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877-HERITAGE (437-4824)(214) 528-3500
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Auction Name: 2025 September 27 Space Exploration Showcase Auction
Lot Number: 71005
Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/33169*71005
Bell X-2 1956 Test Flight Cover Signed by Legendary Pilot Frank K. "Pete" Everest. An airmail philatelic cover canceled at Edwards Air Force Base on May 23, 1956. The typed information filled in by Everest at the left side reads:
"BELL X2 ROCKET PLANE TEST FLIGHT
PLACE: Edwards AFB
DATE: 22 May 1956
PLANE: #674
FLIGHT#: 6
BY Frank K. Everest Jr
Lt Col USAF TEST PILOT"
Address label. Very fine. Included, for purposes of display or matting, are two glossy color prints showing the plane.
The Bell X-2, nicknamed "Starbuster," was an American rocket-powered research aircraft developed in the 1950s to investigate flight characteristics at speeds ranging from Mach 2 to Mach 3. Constructed from stainless steel and a copper-nickel alloy, it featured swept wings and was powered by a two-chamber Curtiss-Wright XLR25-CW-1 rocket engine. The aircraft was air-launched from a modified Boeing B-50 Superfortress and landed unpowered on dry lake beds. The Bell X-2 was an exceptionally dangerous aircraft, pushing the boundaries of speed and altitude at the edge of known flight dynamics, where control surfaces often became ineffective and stability was unpredictable. Tragically, its extreme performance envelope contributed to the deaths of two test pilots, including Captain Milburn Apt, who became the first person to exceed Mach 3 before losing control of the aircraft.
Lieutenant Colonel Frank K. "Pete" Everest Jr., a distinguished U.S. Air Force test pilot, played a pivotal role in the X-2 program. He conducted the aircraft's first unpowered glide flight on August 5, 1954, and its inaugural powered flight on November 18, 1955. Throughout his tenure with the X-2, Everest achieved several milestones, including reaching Mach 2.87 (approximately 1,900 mph or 3,050 km/h) in late July 1956, earning him the title "The Fastest Man Alive" at that time. From the Family Collection of Jacques Bracke.
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