Posted on 10/12/2021 9:54:01 AM PDT by DFG
On October 14, 1947, a unique, terrifying sound pierced the air above California's Mojave desert.
US Air Force pilot Chuck Yeager had carried out a feat which some believed to be impossible: he had broken the sound barrier by flying above Mach 1 (767mph), causing a sonic boom.
The brilliant pilot did so in 'Glamorous Glennis', the experimental Bell X-1 plane which was named after his wife.
Now, ahead of the anniversary of his famous accomplishment, an upcoming TV documentary sheds further light on how the pilot came extremely close to death when his plane spun out control on a previous test flight.
He was only saved by quick-thinking which saw him turn off his engines to slow himself down and regain control.
Breaking The Sound Barrier, which airs in the UK and US tonight on the Smithsonian Channel, hears from aviation experts and reveals newly-colourised footage of the famous flight.
Yeager, who passed away in December last year, had previously shot down at least 11 enemy aircraft in the Second World War.
His 1947 feat pipped other countries – including the UK – in the race to fly faster than the speed of sound and sparked off the global development of both commercial and military aircraft capable of flying at supersonic speeds.
A little over six years later, the US Navy's Skyrocket plane reached a new speed of Mach 2 (1,500mph), before Yeager became top dog again by flying at 1,600mph.
And, within less than 20 years of Yeager's flight, the Concorde supersonic airliner had taken to the skies, ushering in a revolution in commercial transatlantic travel.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
And a famous Freemason. What are the odds?
Not too many American men around nowadays with real cahones like that.
Balls of steel.
Today people are called “courageous” for prancing around with purple hair and fake boobs. Things that would have gotten them locked up in a rubber room in 1947. How we have fallen.
Chuck Yeager was definitely a hero of mine, we used to see a lot of those test flights out of Edwards AF Base where my dad worked for a time with Boeing when we lived in Lancaster, CA back in the late ‘50’s.
Folks should be sure to read the comments at the DM story.
Ah, the “good old days” when we could look up to real heroes.
This is what the Soviets were working on at that time. (MIG-15)
What I find amazing is how few controls in those old machines. Like John Glenn’s capsule in the Smithsonian - orbited the earth with only a few gauges
“Not too many American men around nowadays with real cajones like that.”
Chuck broke multiple ribs the previous day (horse accident) and had to have His flight engineer help make a tool to close the door - NO ONE was to know about it.
It ended up being the handle from a broom that they cut-down and he hid in his uniform. Chuck used the broom handle to decrease the force he needed to exert to close the door.
Tough guy.
My dad (USAF Fighter Pilot ‘54-’75) started bitching about “too many black boxes” when they upgraded the F101 Voodoo in about ‘67.
Yeah. Also, 1947 was the year that the F-86 made its maiden flight.
p
DAMN, that’s memorious !
A significant item not included in this article, the aircraft (a/c) design. Note the straight wings and general ‘bullet’ shape. This was a design from the brute-force approach which was why there were stability and control problems. While WW2 Germany had already deployed swept wings on the ME-163 & ME-262, the advantages from these designs were slow to penetrate in the immediate postwar era. Another feature that would help these a/c was the ‘area-rule’ concept of the ‘wasp waist’ that, with the angled wings, smoothed the airflows and reduced the ‘wall’ effect of the shockwave at Mach+ flight!
A point made in this UK article about the British Government cancelling a similar advanced supersonic test program is, while true, also misleading. Postwar Britain was WRECKED by WW2! The populace remained on rationing and high taxes until the 1950s WHILE the Labour Government implemented massive socialism in nationalizing industries and starting the National Health System (NHS)!
I still recommend the movie “The Right Stuff” for a good review of this era. Chuck Yeager and his comrades may have been flying high-tech but their assigned quarters were little more than tarpaper shacks. Quite a contrast!
The UK Labor government gave Rolls-Royce Nene engines to the Soviets hoping to improve UK-Soviet relations. Sample engines were purchased and delivered with blueprints. This engine led to the development of the jet engine that powered the Mig-15.
ME-163 - rocket-powered.
ME-262 - jet powered.
And now they have touch screens.
Still remember reading in our Weekly Reader about the X15
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