BRIAN THOMAS

Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright made
the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-
than-air aircraft.  Orville piloted the gasoline-powered, propeller-
driven biplane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered
120 feet on its inaugural flight.

               Orville Wright                         Wilbur Wright

National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC.

The Hughes Flying Boat—at one time the largest aircraft ever built—
was piloted by designer Howard Hughes on its first and only flight.

Howard Robard Hughes Jr.
(December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976)

Today the Spruce Goose remains in good condition and is on display in McMinnville, Oregon at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum.

      
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)  

Colonel Dean Caswell, USMC (Ret)
(July 24, 1922 – Sept 21st, 2022)

AUSTIN, Texas (TND) — The last living U’S. Marine Corps fighter
ace of World War II passed on at the age of 100. Colonel Dean
Caswell died at his home in Austin, Texas on Sept. 21.

Col. Caswell joined the Marine Corps in 1942 and fought in WWII,
the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, according to his obituary.

The ace fighter pilot reportedly flew over 10,000 hours and served
in 110 combat missions piloting 56 different aircraft. He has been credited for shooting down seven enemy aircraft during aerial
combat during his service. He also apparently flew with the
legendary Blue Angels.