MYRA, WEST VIRGINIA: On October 14, 1947, US Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound.
Born in Myra, West Virginia, in 1923, Yeager had a distinguished military career, serving as a combat fighter during World War II.
How many missions did Chuck Yeager fly?
During World War II, Yeager flew a total of 64 missions over Europe, where he successfully shot down 13 German planes.
Yeager faced the perils of war when he was shot down over France, but he managed to escape capture with the help of the French underground.
Post-World War II, Yeager's contributions extended to experimental aviation.
He was selected as one of several volunteers to test-fly the X-1 rocket plane, an experimental aircraft developed by the Bell Aircraft Company to explore the potential of supersonic flight.
For a considerable period, many aviators held the belief that surpassing the speed of sound was beyond the realm of possibility, theorizing that transonic drag rise would lead to the destruction of any aircraft.
This perception underwent a significant shift on October 14, 1947, when Chuck Yeager piloted the X-1 over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California.
Later, it was Jacqueline Cochran who in 1953 became the first woman to break the sound barrier.
How high did Chuck Yeager fly?
Lifted to an altitude of 25,000 feet by a B-29 aircraft and then released, the rocket plane soared to 40,000 feet, breaking the sound barrier at that altitude by exceeding 662 miles per hour.
Dubbed 'Glamorous Glennis' after Yeager's wife, the X-1 featured thin, unswept wings and a streamlined fuselage modeled after a .50-caliber bullet.
While reports of the groundbreaking flight surfaced in December 1947, the secrecy surrounding the project meant that Bell and Yeager's accomplishment was officially confirmed only in June 1948.
How many planes did Chuck Yeager fly?
General Yeager boasts an impressive aviation record, having piloted 201 different types of military aircraft and accumulated over 14,000 flying hours.
Of these hours, more than 13,000 were spent in fighter aircraft.
Yeager continued his service as a test pilot, reaching a speed of 1,650 miles per hour in a 1953 flight with the X-1A rocket plane.
Yeager retired from the US Air Force in 1975 as brigadier general.
Chuck Yeager passed away on December 7, 2020, at the age of 97.
