CHARLES (CHUCK) YEAGER ALSO LOVED FLYING. DURING WORLD WAR II HE WAS A DARING PILOT WHO SHOT DOWN ENEMY PLANES. AFTER THE END OF THE WAR IN 1945, HE WORKED TESTING EXPERIMENTAL PLANES. SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS WANTED TO DESIGN A PLANE THAT COULD GO FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF SOUND. (THAT’S ABOUT 761 MILES AN HOUR.)
BY THE LATE 1940S, A NEW PLANE, CALLED THE BELL X-I, HAD BEEN DEVELOPED. YEAGER WAS CHOSEN TO PILOT IT ON ITS FIRST FLIGHT. EVEN A HORSEBACK RIDING ACCIDENT TWO NIGHTS BEFORE THE FLIGHT DIDN’T STOP HIM. FEARING THAT A DOCTOR WOULD TELL HIS BOSSES THAT HE WASN’T FIT TO FLY, YEAGER WENT TO A VET WHO BANDAGED UP HIS BROKEN RIBS. ONLY A MONTH AFTER NEIL ARMSTRONG STARTED COLLEGE, CHUCK YEAGER GOT INTO THE COCKPIT OF THE X-I AND BROKE THE SOUND BARRIER DURING A FOURTEEN-MINUTE FLIGHT. (THERE ISN’T ACTUALLY A REAL BARRIER TO BREAK, BUT THE TERM IS STILL USED.) |