The diminutive X-13 was designed to test the idea of a jet-powered vertical takeoff aircraft that could make the transition to horizontal flight and then return to vertical flight for landing. A secondary design goal was to eliminate the need for conventional landing gear. The X-13 was transported on a specially constructed trailer. Once in position, the trailer, with the aircraft attached, would be raised to a vertical position. The aircraft had a hook under the nose and hung from the trailer on a steel cable attached to two movable hydraulic arms. Once airborne in vertical mode, the hook came off the cable, then pilot would clear the trailer and make the transition to horizontal flight. To land, the pilot would pull up, convert to vertical flight, and "walk" the aircraft into position to hook on the wire—a difficult maneuver, to say the least. The test program proceeded in small steps: conventional flight, then vertical flight with a test rig attached, then hooking and unhooking, and finally, full conversion. On July 30, 1957, in Arlington, Va., the X-13 took off vertically from a street in front of the Pentagon, retraced the route Orville Wright and Lt. Benjamin Foulois made on the final acceptance flight of the 1909 Military Flyer, and returned for a vertical landing. By early 1958, USAF and NACA turned their attention to other programs (mainly the X-15) and both X-13s were retired. One is on display at the San Diego (Calif.) Aerospace Museum, and the other is on display at the US Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
| Contractors: |
Ryan Aeronautical Co. |
| Locations Built: |
San Diego, Calif. |
| Number Built: (USAF) |
Two (two) |
| First Flight: |
December 10, 1955 (conventional takeoff and landing). April 11, 1957 (first full- cycle flight) |
| First Flight Model: |
X-13 |
| First Flight Location: |
Edwards AFB, Calif. |
| First Flight Pilot: |
Pete Girard |
| Models/Variants: |
X-13 |
| Powerplant: |
One Rolls-Royce RA.28-49 Avon nonafterburning axial flow turbojet of 10,000 lb max thrust |
| Wingspan: |
21 ft 0 in. |
| Length: |
24 ft 0 in. |
| Height: |
15 ft 0 in. |
| Weight: |
7,200 lb gross |
| Armament: |
None |
| Accommodation: |
Pilot only |
| Cost: |
Approximately $9.4 million |
| Max. Speed: |
483 mph |
| Range: |
167 mi. |
| Ceiling: |
20,000 ft. |
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