The sound barrier was officially broken on October 14th 1947 when the Bell X-1 became the first aircraft to fly faster than sound. The rocket powered craft piloted by U.S. air force Major Charles (Chuck) Yeager was taken to a height of 70,000 feet (9,700 m) under a B29 Boeing Superfortress mother plane.
The test began and the maximum speed achieved was Mach 1.05 which was held for several seconds. Once the test was completed the X 1 glided to land at Edmonds air force base in California. Yeager reported that there was severe buffeting at Mach 0.94 but combatively little when the barrier was broken.
He then went on to break several other speed and altitude records in the following years. In 1962, he became the first commandant of the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School, which trained and produced astronauts for NASA and the Air Force. Yeager later commanded fighter squadrons and wings in Germany, as well as in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.
In recognition of his achievements and the outstanding performance ratings of those units, he was promoted to brigadier general in 1969. Retiring on March 1, 1975. His three-war active-duty flying career spanned more than 30 years.
