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14.10.

1947: The Sound Barrier Officially Broken for the First Time in History

1947: The Sound Barrier Officially Broken for the First Time in History
Photo Credit To http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Chuck_Yeager.jpg

Story Highlights

  • historical event:
  • Pilot Chuck Yeager gave his X-1 aircraft the nickname „Glamorous Glennis“ in honor of his wife. His surname is of German origin and is derived from the word Jäger (hunter). Namely, Chuck Yeager was born in a part of West Virginia which is also home to many German immigrants.

On this day in 1947, the sound barrier was officially broken by an aircraft for the first time in history (i.e. it achieved a speed of Mach 1). The man responsible for the feat was the pilot Charles “Chuck” Yeager, who thus became one of the most famous airmen in history. He flew in a Bell X-1 rocket airplane, and it is very interesting that he didn’t take off from the ground. Instead, his plane was launched by a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber. Coincidentally, the same type of bomber had been used to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki two years earlier.



Pilot Chuck Yeager gave his X-1 aircraft the nickname „Glamorous Glennis“ in honor of his wife. His surname is of German origin and is derived from the word Jäger (hunter). Namely, Chuck Yeager was born in a part of West Virginia which is also home to many German immigrants.

During World War II, Chuck Yeager became a fighter ace. He shot down over 10 German aircraft, including five in a single day. Later Yeager ever became a Brigadier General in the USAF (U.S. Air Force).

It is interesting to note that Yeager had broken two ribs only two days before making his historical fight. Since he didn’t want to miss the opportunity, he hid the fact that he was injured, and visited a veterinarian instead of a physician. On the day of the flight, he allegedly felt such pain that he wasn’t able to close the cockpit door on his own. Even so, as was mentioned above, he successfully managed to break the sound barrier during his flight, at an altitude of 13.7 km.

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