EXPLORATION

32 CHAPTER 2 Maturity and Pride, 1941–1957
FIGURE 2-14.
FIGURE 2-15.
The second X-1 research airplane was used by the NACA for specific
flights of interest to the research community. The airplane was originally
orange in color but was painted all white and displayed the old NACA
shield on the vertical tail in 1949. (NASA E49-009)
Two years later, in 1951, X-1-2 retained its white paint finish, but the
NACA shield was replaced with the modified standard NACA wings
insignia in a gold tail band. The X symbols were painted on the fuselage
for reference during visual measurements of aircraft attitude. (NASA
E52-0670)
were initially painted bright orange for presumed ease
of visibility and tracking during flight. During Chuck
Yeager’s historic X-1 flight in October 1947, however,
the aircraft was difficult to see. Flight research for the
second X-1 was managed by the NACA for its specific
research interests and was painted a more easily discernible
white. X-1-2 initially displayed the NACA
shield to honor the traditional shield markings from
the pioneering days of the agency. After its first flights,
the vertical tail surface was refinished with the modified
standard NACA wings insignia within a gold tail
band. Archival searches did not identify a reference for
the foregoing applications.
Other experimental NACA aircraft of the 1950s
adopted the highly visible white paint scheme with a
markings progression similar to that of the X-1 program.
For example, the paint scheme for the Douglas
D-558-1 Skystreak was changed from scarlet to white,
and its tail emblem transitioned from the NACA
shield to the gold NACA wings logo. Other research
aircraft adopting the overall white scheme included
the swept-wing Douglas D-558-2, designed to further
explore the realm of supersonic flight beyond Mach
1; the Douglas X-3 Stilleto, designed to advance the
efficiency of supersonic flight; the Northrop X-4,
designed to evaluate the characteristics of tailless jet