Who broke the sound barrier?
An XP-86 over the Mojave
Was it really Chuck Yeager? Or did George Welch beat him to it? If so, it happened on this day in 1947.
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I’ve read accounts that George Welch indeed broke the sound barrier some time before Yeager did. Even the legendary desert bar owner Pancho Barnes (whom readers of Tom Wolfe’s “The Right Stuff” would be familiar with) is said to have heard the signature double-bang. Welch went supersonic in a dive, and as operational F-86s were known to be quite capable of going supersonic in dives, Welch’s feat is certainly plausible. The event was not officially recorded (or even officially sanctioned) though, while Yeager’s flight was, and so Welch’s achievement probably does not count in any meaningful way, except as a footnote in aviation history.
Comment by Mark Mallari — October 2, 2009 @ 6:29 am