Mach 2: D-558 and X-2

rocket.aero, ©2007
NTSC Format, 227 Minutes

Reviewed by Chris Banyai-Riepl

The newest title from rocket.aero covers a pair of aircraft from those early days of high speed flight: the Bell X-2 and the Douglas D-558. For those not familiar with the rocket.aero series, these DVDs pull together archival film footage and present as complete a story as possible. In the case of these two aircraft, this includes raw footage from test flights, as well as coverage on the mother ships, loading processes, and ground handling.

Another very nice feature on this DVD is the inclusion of the Air Force documentary, “Flight to the Future.” This highlights the X-2, as well as showing some of the later X-planes, including the Douglas X-3, Northrop X-4, and Bell X-5. Also included is a nice video walkaround of the X-2, showing the placement of the Templac high-temperature paint. Each aircraft also has a detailed Modeling Notes section that will provide excellent information for those wanting to build a detailed model of either the X-2 or D-558.

If you are interested in the X-planes and those early attempts at high speed flight, this is a great documentary to have. The quality of the video is really outstanding, and the amount of information is remarkable. My thanks to rocket.aero for the review copy.