Bell D188 Jet VTOL Fighter for the USN (1956)

[jzichek]

The fourth installment in a series on the Bell D188A VTOL fighter is now up at RetroMechanix.com:



The article reproduces the first third of a design data summary report submitted by Bell to the Navy on November 15, 1957. The accompanying gallery features 74 images with many interesting high resolution drawings, photos and illustrations. Additional installments to follow in the weeks ahead, so please stay tuned!

[jzichek]

The fifth installment in a series on the Bell D188A VTOL fighter is now up at RetroMechanix.com:



The article reproduces the second portion of a November 1957 design data summary submitted by Bell to the US Navy. The accompanying gallery features 65 images with several interesting illustrations, along with a detailed technical analysis of the design. Additional installments to follow in the weeks ahead, so please stay tuned!

[jzichek]

The sixth installment in a series on the Bell D188A VTOL fighter is now up at RetroMechanix.com:



The article reproduces the final portion of a November 1957 design data summary submitted by Bell to the US Navy. The accompanying gallery features 63 high resolution schematics of the aircraft, its various components, and alternate configurations. Additional installments on the D188A to follow in the weeks ahead, so please stay tuned!

[jzichek]

The seventh installment in a series on the Bell D188A VTOL fighter is now up at RetroMechanix.com:



The article reproduces a pair of Bell reports from December 1957 along with a Navy Bureau of Aeronautics memorandum critiquing the design. The accompanying gallery features 39 images, including many photos and illustrations of this ambitious but ultimately cancelled supersonic VTOL fighter.

-Jared

[jzichek]

The eighth installment in a series on the Bell D188A is now up at RetroMechanix.com:



The article reproduces Navy correspondence and a report from February-March 1958 describing various possible Sidewinder installations on the aircraft. The accompanying image gallery features several high resolution drawings of the installations and a photo.

-Jared

[jzichek]

The ninth installment in a series on the Bell D188A/Model 2000 is now up at RetroMechanix.com:



The article reproduces Bell Progress Reports from April-August 1958 documenting the ongoing evolution of the aircraft. The accompanying image gallery features numerous large photos and illustrations of this ill-fated supersonic VTOL fighter design.

-Jared

[jzichek]

The tenth installment in a series on the Bell D188A/Model 2000 is now up at RetroMechanix.com:



The article reproduces Bell Progress Reports from September-December 1958 documenting the continuing evolution of the aircraft. The accompanying image gallery features numerous large photos of the mock-up under construction and scale test models.

-Jared