Editing Bell X-5 (section)

==Design and development==
The [[Messerschmitt P.1101]] V1 prototype was captured by United States troops in April 1945 from an experimental facility at Oberammergau, Germany. It was brought back to the United States, eventually being delivered to the [[Bell Aircraft]] factory at Buffalo, New York. Although incomplete and damaged in transit, company engineering staff studied the design closely.<ref name=":0">Winchester 2005, p. 37.</ref> The P.1101 had a wing sweep that could be adjusted on the ground from 30, 40, to 45 degrees. However, this was for testing only and never intended as an operational feature.<ref name="Christopher">{{cite book |last1=Christopher |first1=John |title=The Race for Hitler's X-Planes : Britain's 1945 Mission to Capture Secret Luftwaffe Technology. |date=1 June 2013 |publisher=History Press |isbn=978-0752464572 |pages=157–160}}</ref> The Bell team, led by Chief Designer Robert J. Woods, submitted a proposal for a similar design, but with in-flight wing adjustment capability.<ref name=":0" />

Although superficially similar, the X-5 was much more complex than the P.1101, with three sweep positions: 20°, 40° and 60°, creating an inflight "variable-geometry" platform. A [[jackscrew]] assembly moved the wing's hinge along a set of short horizontal rails, using [[disc brake]]s to lock the wing into its inflight positions. Moving from full extension to full sweep took less than 30 seconds. The articulation of the hinge and pivots partly compensated for the shifts in [[center of gravity]] and [[Center of pressure (fluid mechanics)|center of pressure]] as the wings moved.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

Even so, the X-5 had vicious [[Spin (flight)|spin]] characteristics arising from the aircraft's flawed aerodynamic layout, particularly a poorly positioned tail and vertical stabilizer which, in some wing positions, could lead to an irrecoverable spin. This violent stall / spin instability would eventually cause the destruction of the second aircraft and the death of its Air Force test pilot in 1953.<ref>Hallion 1984, p. 52.</ref>

The unfavorable spin characteristics also led to the cancellation of tentative plans by the United States Air Force to modify the X-5's design into a low-cost tactical fighter for NATO and other foreign countries.<ref>Hallion 1984, p. 47.</ref>