Chuck Yeager

Chuck Yeager was an American test pilot who became the first person confirmed to fly faster than the speed of sound, piloting the Bell X-1 in 1947.

Bell X-1: An experimental rocket-powered aircraft used to investigate supersonic flight. Yeager flew this aircraft during the 1947 flight that crossed the sound barrier.
Transonic flight: Flight near the speed of sound, where airflow around an aircraft can be both subsonic and supersonic. The X-1 had to cross this difficult regime before reaching supersonic speed.
United States Army Air Forces: The U.S. military aviation service that operated from 1941 until the creation of the independent Air Force in 1947. Yeager flew combat missions with this service before becoming a test pilot.
Bob Hoover: An American test pilot and aerobatic pilot who served in World War II and later worked in military and civilian aviation. Hoover and Yeager were prominent peers in postwar American test flying.
Supersonic flight: Flight at speeds greater than the local speed of sound. Yeager’s achievement demonstrated that controlled piloted flight in this regime was possible.
Glamorous Glennis: The Bell X-1 aircraft flown by Yeager on its first supersonic flight, named for his wife. This was the specific X-1 in which Yeager made his record-setting flight.
Rocket aircraft: An aircraft propelled by a rocket engine, which carries its own oxidizer and can operate beyond atmospheric oxygen limits. The X-1 used rocket propulsion to accelerate rapidly at high altitude.
World War II aerial combat: Air-to-air combat conducted by military aircraft during the Second World War. Yeager became a fighter ace while serving in the European theater.
Jack Ridley: A U.S. Air Force engineer and test-pilot project officer associated with the Bell X-1 program. Ridley helped Yeager prepare for the flight despite Yeager’s broken ribs.
North American F-100 Super Sabre: An American supersonic jet fighter that entered U.S. Air Force service in the 1950s. Operational supersonic aircraft followed the experimental work that Yeager helped validate.

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Supersonic transportRelated: His milestone demonstrated controlled supersonic flight, preceding the development of passenger transports.