Chuck Yeager Breaks the Sound Barrier

Oct. 14, 1947

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.

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