Capt. Charles “Chuck” Yeager becomes the first pilot to reach supersonic speeds in level flight when he reaches a speed of Mach 1.06 (700 miles per hour) at an altitude of 45,000 feet in the rocket-powered Bell XS-1 (later redesignated X-1) over Muroc Dry Lake, Calif. His aircraft was released by a B-29 mother ship in midair.
Trainees in Basic Military Training and technical school no longer have the option to try alternate PT drills if they fail an initial assessment, according to a policy change the Air Force made in April. The move is part of a larger shift out of the classroom and into hands-on,…