Ezra Kotcher: The Father of the Bell X-1 and X-2
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-5-2024
Abstract
The Bell X-2 rocket plane was a less-than-successful follow-on to the famous Bell X-1 that broke the sound barrier in 1947. The author recently discovered that both aircraft were the brainchildren of Ezra Kotcher, a civilian professor, military officer, and senior administrator with the United States Air Force. The author, during his residency as a Summer Faculty Fellow at the United States Air Force Institute of Technology, had the opportunity to examine Colonel Kotcher’s personal technical correspondence relating to these programs. By sharing these contemporaneous photographs, memoranda, reports, and notes, we gain new insight into how the Bell X-1 and Bell X-2 came to be. It is interesting to find out what differences led to the success of the X-1 and the failure of the X-2, as both aircraft embodied a deeply rooted desire to build something where “form follows function.”
Source Publication
Journal of Aeronautical History
Recommended Citation
Takahashi, T. T. (2024). Ezra Kotcher: the Father of the Bell X-1 and X-2. Journal of Aeronautical History. https://www.aerosociety.com/publications/jah-ezra-kotcher-the-father-of-the-bell-x-1-and-x-2/
Comments
JAH Paper 2024/04.
The "Link to Full Text" on this page opens the PDF of the full article, as hosted at the journal website.
The Journal of Aeronautical History is an online free-to-access publication of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
Dr. Takahashi utilized the Ezra Kotcher Collection materials at the D'Azzo Research Library, AFIT. He is now an AFIT faculty member.