Bell XLR81-BA-1 Hustler rocket engine
Bell's XLR81-BA-1, usually called the Hustler engine, was a historical single-chamber liquid rocket engine developed for the Convair B-58 Hustler weapon pod. NASA records red fuming nitric acid and jet fuel propellants, 11,500 lbf sea-level thrust and 15,000 lbf at 70,000 feet, and a non-throttleable/non-restartable configuration optimized for post-release ignition; no vehicle-family installation is asserted here.
Identity
- Aliases
- XLR81-BA-1XLR-81-BA-1Hustler engine
- Domains
- aviationspaceflight
- Identity Level
- variant
- Kind
- liquid-rocket-engine
- Name
- Bell XLR81-BA-1 Hustler rocket engine
- Status
- historical
Details
- Description
- Bell's XLR81-BA-1, usually called the Hustler engine, was a historical single-chamber liquid rocket engine developed for the Convair B-58 Hustler weapon pod. NASA records red fuming nitric acid and jet fuel propellants, 11,500 lbf sea-level thrust and 15,000 lbf at 70,000 feet, and a non-throttleable/non-restartable configuration optimized for post-release ignition; no vehicle-family installation is asserted here.
- Propellants
- red fuming nitric acidjet fuel
- Rocket Specs
- Chamber Count
- 1
- Restartable
- No
- Sea Level Thrust Kn
- 51.1545486
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 15, 2026 at 03:39:12 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 15, 2026 at 03:39:12 UTC
Other
- Sources
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-14
- Note
- NASA's X-15-era propulsion history identifies the exact Bell XLR81-BA-1 Hustler engine, its single chamber, red fuming nitric acid/jet fuel propellants, 11,500-lbf sea-level and 15,000-lbf 70,000-ft thrust, and non-throttleable/non-restartable post-release configuration.
- Publisher
- NASA Technical Reports Server
- Title
- Hypersonics Before the Shuttle
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-14
- Note
- NASA's X-15 design history places XLR81-BA-1 among the propulsion candidates evaluated for the Project 1226 research-aircraft competition and identifies its Convair B-58 Hustler weapon-pod application.
- Publisher
- NASA
- Title
- X-15: Extending the Frontiers of Flight