On October 14, 1947, United States Air Force Captain Charles “Chuck” Yeager became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound, piloting the experimental Bell X-1 rocket-powered aircraft over California’s Mojave Desert. Released from the bomb bay of a modified B-29 Superfortress at 20,000 feet, the orange, bullet-shaped aircraft—named Glamorous Glennis in honor of Yeager’s wife—ignited its rocket engine and climbed toward its test altitude. Despite suffering from two broken ribs sustained in a horse-riding accident days earlier, Yeager concealed his injuries from flight surgeons so he could proceed with the high-stakes test.
As the X-1 accelerated through the thinning air, it encountered severe buffeting and control difficulties caused by shockwaves forming as it approached Mach 1, the speed of sound. Yeager maintained control by using the aircraft’s adjustable horizontal stabilizer, which restored elevator effectiveness as airflow over the tail became unstable. His Mach meter then jumped from Mach 0.965 to Mach 1.06 at approximately 43,000 feet, making the Bell X-1 the first airplane to exceed the speed of sound in level flight. The sonic boom heard across the desert marked a decisive advance in aviation, disproving the idea of an impenetrable “sound barrier” and opening the era of supersonic flight.
Image: Col. Charles S. Yeager, Commandant of the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School at the Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB, Calif., poses with a model of the North American X-15 high speed, high-altitude research aircraft. He holds a photograph of the Bell X-1 aircraft in which he became the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound on Oct. 14, 1947.
