Exotic research aircraft designed, built, and flown in Europe in the two decades following World War II were the foreign equivalent of the legendary American X-Planes. Many of these advanced aircraft flown by test pilots such as Peter Twiss and Andre Turcat captured speed and altitude records previously held by their American counterparts.

Some of today's most famous and successful aircraft were influenced by advanced technologies first tested and flown on European X-Planes. A significant number of aviation "firsts" occurred at secluded flight test facilities located in England, France, and...