14, Yeager tried out the tail idea at 0.83, 0.88 and 0.92 Mach and found the method worked. 10 where he briefly lost pitch control completely.Īnother crew member suggested that Yeager should move the X-1's horizontal tail very slightly to keep his airplane under control. He had trouble keeping the plane straight due to pitch problems, particularly on a flight Oct. Yeager's work on Glamorous Glennis began with three glide flights, then powered flights starting Aug. Then in 1947, the young Yeager was picked to try to break the sound barrier. His flight skills got him some attention: he was asked to fly in air shows and also took part in service trials at Edwards Air Force Base (then called Muroc Army Air Field). Yeager's website describes the location as "the center of Army Air Forces R and D ", and said his main assignment was to fly the fighters being developed there. (Image credit: United States Air Force Archive) Breaking the barrierįollowing the war, one of Yeager's assignments as an assistant maintenance officer in the fighter section at the Flight Test Division in Wright Field, Ohio. Yeager (shown standing with the Bell X-1 supersonic rocket plane) became the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound in level flight on Oct.
He was shot down on March 5, 1944, over Bordeaux, France, but with the assistance of French resistance movement the Maquis, Yeager made it back to neutral territory a few weeks later. Yeager received his pilot wings in 1943 and served in WWII, flying 64 combat missions for 270 hours in Europe. Those traits coupled with a competitive streak and his understanding of machinery caught the attention of his instructors," his website stated. "He had remarkable 20/10 eyesight, tremendous physical coordination, and an uncanny ability to stay focused in stressful situations. He was tapped for flight training in July 1942, and quickly distinguished himself among his peers. His high school graduation in 1941 took place just six months before the United States entered World War II that December.īy that point, Yeager was a young member of the Army Air Corps. Born in 1923 in a small town near Hamlin, West Virginia, Yeager grew up working on his father's pickup trucks, according to Yeager's website. Yeager had a colorful aviation career long even before breaking the Mach barrier.
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