Archive for the 'Speed of sound' Category

SOUND BARRIER WAS BROKEN ON THIS DAY

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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.

Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the speed of sound dies age 97.

Chuck Yeager: First Pilot To Break Sound Barrier Dies Aged 97
Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager
(February 13, 1923 – December 7, 2020)

posted by Bob Karm in AIRCRAFT,ANNIVERSARY,Aviation record,Aviator,HISTORY,Speed of sound and have No Comments

THE SOUND BERRIER BROKEN ON THIS DAY

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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.

       
        
        
    

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 See the source image
Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager
(February 13, 1923 – December 7, 2020)
  


posted by Bob Karm in Air Force,AIRCRAFT,ANNIVERSARY,Aviation,Aviation record,Aviator,HISTORY,Speed of sound and have No Comments