U.S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager became the first person
to fly faster than the speed of sound.
        
        
        

Yeager, born in Myra, West Virginia, in 1923, was a combat fighter
during World War II and flew 64 missions over Europe. He shot
down 13 German planes and was himself shot down over France,
but he escaped capture with the assistance of the French
Underground.

After the war, he was among several volunteers chosen to test-fly
the experimental X-1 rocket plane, built by the Bell Aircraft
Company to explore the possibility of supersonic flight.

On October 14, 1947, Yeager flew the X-1 over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California. The craft was lifted to an altitude of 25,000
feet by a B-29 aircraft and then released through the bomb bay,
rocketing to 40,000 feet and exceeding 662 miles per hour
(the sound barrier at that altitude).

Because of the secrecy of the project, Yeager’s achievement was not announced until June 1948. Yeager continued to serve as a test pilot,
and in 1953 he flew 1,650 miles per hour in an X-1A rocket plane.

He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1975 with the rank of brigadier.

    
        
 
Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager
(February 13, 1923 – December 7, 2020)  

On July 12, 1957, Dwight D. Eisenhower (left) became the first president to ride in a helicopter.

Although experimental military helicopters had been tested since
1947, it was not until 10 years later that a president considered
using the new machine for short, official trips to and from the
White House. Eisenhower suggested the idea to the Secret
Service, which approved of the new mode of transportation,
seeing it as safer and more efficient than the traditional
limousine motorcade.

 
The Bell H-13J helicopter pictured on Presidents Day,2018.

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the
United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services. Initially formed as a part of the United States Army on 1
August 1907, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the
U.S. Armed Forces on 18 September 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the second youngest branch of
the U.S. Armed Forces and the fourth in order of precedence.

The NFL will honor the 75th anniversary of the United States Air
Force before the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams
take the field at SoFi Stadium Sunday when five elite pilots take
part in a pregame flyover during the closing notes of the national anthem.