MOJAVE — Aviation history buffs can sort the facts from the folklore about the Bell X-1 during “Plane Crazy Saturday” at the Mojave Air and Space Port at Rutan Field.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17, at the airport’s Rutan Field, 1434 Flightline, Mojave. Admission is free. Visitors can fly in or drive in to see a static display of historic aircraft. Transient parking is near the old tower.
At 11 a.m., Cam Martin will give a special presentation, “The Bell X-1: Facts vs Folklore,” in the Mojave Air and Space Port Board Room. Organizers say everyone has a favorite X-1 story, and only some of them are true.
Martin’s talk traces how the U.S. Air Force and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics began working together in the High Desert. It covers Capt. Chuck Yeager’s supersonic “Glamorous Glennis,” the first in a series of experimental X-planes. Seven versions of the X-1 flew at the NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station at Edwards from 1946 to 1958. NASA’s supersonic X-59 flies there today.
Seating for the presentation is very limited. RSVP by Thursday, Oct. 15, to info@mojavemuseum.org. More information is available at mojavemuseum.org and mojaveairport.com.
Source: Mojave Air and Space Port event flyer