Revolutionary Bell X-22 – Vertical Lift At 8,000 Feet
(Dean Conger/Corbis via Getty Images)
Model D2127.
When flying in an aircraft you aren’t always guaranteed the best terrain in the world to take off or land from. Landing and takeoffs also require a lot of space which is also isn’t always likely to happen. Vertical takeoff has always been a desired feature for aircraft and one of the first planes to implement it was the Bell X-22.
Powered by four ducted fans the X-22 made its debut in the mid-1960s. It was a spacious aircraft with seating for two pilots and up to six passengers or a maximum payload of 1,200 lbs. It could hover to a height of 8,000 feet, fly at speeds just over 300 mph with a range of 450 miles. Two X-22 prototypes were built and tested, but sadly one was lost to a crash caused by problems with hydraulics.
In the end, the X-22 remained an experimental aircraft because the designs were not quite up to the standards of what the Air Force was looking for. However, the X-22 did provide excellent data to further the research of future vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Here is a clip of the Bell X-22 in a trial run at various altitudes.
