Company pilot Chalmers “Slick” Goodlin makes the first powered flight of the Bell XS-1 supersonic research aircraft (later redesignated X-1). He reaches Mach .75 and an altitude of 35,000 feet after being released from a Boeing B-29 mother ship.
The KC-Z4, a blended wing body tanker concept being developed by startup JetZero, could fuel larger groups of aircraft at longer range to hold more targets at risk, company officials say.