Chuck Yeager Broke Sound Barrier 60 Years Ago - VOA Story

Tags:
Airplanes Chuck Flight Mach Yeager
MyEarbot
  • Affiliate Submitter:
    MyEarbot
  • International International
  • Comments: 0
  • Views: 627
  • Added: 16-Oct-07

American test pilot Chuck Yeager flew a plane through the sound barrier on October 14th, 1947. Some say only the Wright brothers -- Orville and Wilbur -- can claim a more significant achievement in the history of flight. At the time, Britain and Germany also were trying to develop a plane that could break the sound barrier, but the United States soon won out with its X-1.

It was more rocket than plane, developed specifically to fly through the shock waves of the sound barrier, with Yeager as pilot. "About half of the engineers gave us no chance at all of ever successfully flying beyond the speed of sound. They said it's a so-called barrier and the airplane would go out of control or disintegrate, but I didn't look at it that way."

Yeager said he had confidence in the craft. He named it "Glamorous Glennis" for his wife, and described its bullet-shaped body as cozy. "Your knees were just about equal with your shoulders so you could pull a lot of Gs [extreme pull of gravity] without blacking out. It didn't have a prop on it. It didn't have a jet engine. It was just strictly a rocket and it was real slick to fly.".

To save fuel the X-1 was lifted by a modified B-29 bomber, then dropped and powered by four liquid oxygen rockets.

As Yeager's X-1 approached aviation history and Mach 1 [the speed of sound], the plane began buffeting violently. Continuing to accelerate it smoothed out, and for the first time a sonic boom filled the atmosphere.

The success was quickly followed by an entire series of aircraft flying faster and higher than ever before. There were disasters and near disasters.

The X-15 eventually flew to the edge of space at four, five and six times the speed of sound. Yeager went on to direct the Space School at Edward's Air Force Base. And ten years ago, the man who first broke the sound barrier did it once again for his last time. Yeager made one last flight faster than the speed of sound in 1997 on the 50th anniversary of his historic flight

  1. Categories: News & Events
Comments on

Chuck Yeager Broke Sound Barrier 60 Years Ago - VOA Story

15 Comments | Add Comment
  • you are correct

    you are correct

    By JacksterLark [Affiliate User] 1225048750 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • i did a science ...

    i did a science project on the person that made the x1 and x15 and one of his students made the dc 1 2 and 3

    By crzygutrsnobrdr [Affiliate User] 1223842721 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • lol, u mean elmer ...

    lol, u mean elmer fudd but still lol

    By hiphopisdead93 [Affiliate User] 1222641930 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • I think I told ...

    I think I told someone this before. Its a fact that the american gov had british secrets to do with the sound barrier. after they were given them they refused to allow British scientists access. Obviously Some goverments like boasting but never tell the whole truth.

    By 1welshwarrior [Affiliate User] 1221413044 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • JacksterLark is a ...

    JacksterLark is a fuckin idiot!!! You don't time travel when you break the sound barrier!! The speed of sound in a viscous medium is a well documented fact, with its own governing equation. a = (gamma.R.T)^0.5
    What kind of scientist are you if you haven't taken basic physics for engineers? You don't even deserve to comment on this page....JACKASS

    By gonzovega [Affiliate User] 1221179698 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • You must have ...

    You must have studied science with Elmo Fudd, you stupid moron.You can't even construct a simple sentence.

    By dudleyfeebish [Affiliate User] 1220379590 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • chuck yeager never ...

    chuck yeager never broke the barrier its just a hoax if he did that that is time traveling and it would of destroyed time. and they woul'nt have that technology at the time. i saw a real picture of it and it said Nasa. What the F**k thats impossible i mean its fake. it said it wuz a car. now a plane. it wuz a F**king rocket for god sakes F**k him!

    By JacksterLark [Affiliate User] 1218674453 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • another thing is If ...

    another thing is If he did that it must have been in space. it blow up on earth. in space it wouldn't what a S**t load of F**k its o F**king hoax. im a scientest i studied it AND ITS A F**kING HOAX!

    By JacksterLark [Affiliate User] 1218674412 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • he never broke the ...

    he never broke the sound barrier its impossible!

    By JacksterLark [Affiliate User] 1218673886 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • chuck yeager never ...

    chuck yeager never broke the barrier its just a hoax if he did that that is time traveling and it would of destroyed time. and they woul'nt have that technology at the time. i saw a real picture of it and it said Nasa. What the F**k thats impossible i mean its fake. it said it wuz a car. now a plane. it wuz a F**king rocket for god sakes F**k him!

    By JacksterLark [Affiliate User] 1218673809 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Thanks for sharing ...

    Thanks for sharing some great History of a great Air Force General. Chuck Yeager will always be the best Fighter Pilot in History, and the first Recorded to break the Sound Barrier.

    Thanks for the original footage. You can see him break the sound barrier with the actor playing him in the Movie The Right Stuff.

    By LindaB98787 [Affiliate User] 1217807276 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Hand Selected ...

    Hand Selected Introduction For Professional Local Singles (meetyourfling) c o m
    curmon
    9967884

    By Chipxinhxinh [Affiliate User] 1215696049 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Thak God for ol' ...

    Thak God for ol' Chuckie Yeager!

    By Kellers357 [Affiliate User] 1214535140 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • first person to ...

    first person to offically break the barrier, not the first but the first recorded :)

    By eblevinda [Affiliate User] 1212923316 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Chuck is the ...

    Chuck is the greatest pilot ever and he's Air Force, not navy. Read his super book, "Yeager:An Autobiography" still sold in contemporary book stores like Barnes and Noble, etc.

    By TerryTAnderson [Affiliate User] 1211821894 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
15 Comments | Add Comment