| X-3 Stiletto | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Experimental aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Douglas |
| Designer | Schuyler Kleinhans, Baily Oswald and Francis Clauser[1] |
| Status | Preserved at National Museum of the United States Air Force |
| Primary users | United States Air Force |
| Number built | 1 |
| History | |
| First flight | 15 October 1952 |
| Retired | 23 May 1956 |
The Douglas X-3 Stiletto is a 1950s United States experimental jet aircraft with a slender fuselage and a long tapered nose, manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Its primary mission was to investigate the design features of an aircraft suitable for sustained supersonic speeds, which included the first use of titanium in major airframe components. Douglas designed the X-3 with the goal of a maximum speed of approximately 2,000 mph (3,200 km/h),[2] but it was seriously underpowered for this purpose and could not even exceed Mach 1 in level flight.[3] Although the research aircraft was a disappointment, Lockheed designers used data from the X-3 tests for the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter which used a similar trapezoidal wing design in a successful Mach 2 fighter.
- ^ Hartman, Edwin Phelps (1 January 1970). Adventures in Research a History of Ames Research Center 1940-1965. University of California Libraries.
- ^ "Popular Mechanics". Hearst Magazines. January 1954: 102. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Winchester, Jim (General editor) (2007). Concept aircraft : prototypes, x-planes and experimental aircraft (Reprinted. ed.). Hoo: Grange Books. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-84013-809-2.
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