Bell X-22A VTOL test aircraft first flew in March 1966
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The Bell X-22A performed its inaugural flight in March 1966, completing four vertical takeoffs and landings on that first sortie.
A crash in August 1966 was attributed to a failure of a single‑point control mechanism on one propeller, after which a second prototype was rebuilt from the wreckage and flew in January 1967; between 1966 and 1971 it logged 228 flights covering 125 hours, more than 400 vertical takeoffs and landings, over 200 short takeoffs and landings, and over 250 mode transitions, achieving a maximum cruise speed of 507 km/h, short of the 525 km/h military requirement.