Chuck Yeager Re-Enacts the Historic Flight That Broke the Sound Barrier 122
Hugh Pickens writes "The Seattle Times reports that exactly 65 years to the minute after becoming the first human to fly faster than the speed of sound, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager flew in the back seat of an F-15 Eagle as it broke the sound barrier at more than 30,000 feet above California's Mojave Desert — the same area where he first achieved the feat in 1947 while flying an experimental rocket plane. Asked by a young girl if he was scared during Sunday's flight, Yeager joked, 'Yeah, I was scared to death.' Yeager made the first supersonic flight in a rocket-powered, Bell X-1, known as the XS-1 for 'experimental, supersonic,' attached to the belly of a B-29 aircraft. Hiding the pain of broken ribs from a midnight horse race after a night of drinking at Pancho Barnes' Happy Bottom Riding Club, Yeager squeezed into the aircraft with no safe way to bail out. Soon after the rocket plane was released, Yeager powered it upward to about 42,000 feet altitude, then leveled off and sped to 650 mph, or Mach 1.07. Some aviation historians contend that American pilot George Welch broke the sound barrier before Yeager, while diving an XP-86 Sabre on October 1, 1947 and there is also a disputed claim by German pilot Hans Guido Mutke that he was the first person to break the sound barrier, on April 9, 1945, in a Messerschmitt Me 262. Yeager's flight was portrayed in the opening scenes of The Right Stuff, the 1983 movie, based on the book by Tom Wolfe that chronicles America's space race. For his part Yeager said nothing special was going through his mind at the time of the re-enactment. 'Flying is flying. You can't add a lot to it.'"
Scared (Score:5, Insightful)
'Yeah, I was scared to death.'
Joking or not, once you have been Pilot in Command, when you fly with someone else, you do get kind of twitchy. Kind of like riding in a car with a newly licensed 16 year old. When YOU are not in control, things seem different and possibly scary.
65 years minus 1 day (Score:5, Insightful)
Interesting, if that's so then exactly 65 years minus 1 day after the first human to cross the sound barrier in an airplane, we have the first human to cross the sound barrier without airplane (yesterday)!
Re:Re-enacts? (Score:5, Insightful)
Uninformed troll. He was not a passenger. He flew second seat, which is customary when you are in a two-seater that isn't your plane.
Still has full flight controls and he was flying the aircraft. Yeager has flown the F15 for many years. He is more than qualified in the type. He is one hte most naturally gifted pilots ever to exist. The aircraft hasnt been made that he cant fly (this includes the Space Shuttle and the Mercury capsule, both of which he qualified for on the simulators). The only reason the plane commander was even there is because of Yeagar's advanced years and recent health problems, even though he had been flying F15s solo even up until a couple years ago.
One of the perks of being a retired General who still maintains his flight quals, and also partly cause hey, its Yeager, a man who in his 70s could still outfly men 40 years younger than he.
Re:Wasn't Chuck Yeager injured or sick? (Score:4, Insightful)
In other words he was a typical test pilot of the time.
Re:Re-enacts? (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah, but Yeager couldn't have so easily used this modern F15 plane with modern, easy controls to exceed the sound barrier if it hadn't been for many brave pioneers who went before him and developed and bravely tested supersonic trav...
Wait. Nevermind.