Chuck Yeager

The First Man to Break the Sound Barrier

Chuck Yeager is the most famous test pilot of all time. He won a place in the history of aviation as the first pilot ever to fly faster than the speed of sound in the Bell X-1.

Charles Elwood Yeager was born in 1923 in Myra, America. He joined the United States Army Air Corps to serve in World War II. One day after his first kill he was shot down.  Thanks to the French he escaped being captured and made his way to Spain.

The sound barrier is not just a normal barrier.  It is when you go faster than the speed of sound. The speed of sound is called Mach 1.  Sound travels at a speed of 343.2 metres per second or 1,236 kilometres per hour.  On 14 October 1947 an orange bullet plane was dropped from a B29 bomber plane.  Chuck Yeager was the test pilot.  He broke the sound barrier at the speed of Mach 1.07 and became the first supersonic pilot.

Plane breaking sound barrier

When an aircraft begins to move toward the speed of sound the sound waves pile up in front of it. When it breaks the sound barrier there is a shock wave that comes down and creates a sonic boom. Instead of hearing the noisy aircraft overhead you hear BOOOOOM!!!

Chuck Yeager is still alive today. He made his last flight on October 14, 1997, the 50th anniversary of his history-making flight in the X-1. He by once again broke the sound barrier, this time in an F-15 fighter.

 References:

Chuck Yeager Biography 2012 http://www.biography.com/people/chuck-yeager-9538831

Academy of Achievement 2012 http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/yea0bio-1/

Graham, I, 1997, Built for Speed Aircraft, Belitha Press, London.