The world's first supersonic aircraft, the Bell X-1, piloted by Charles "Chuck" Yeager, flew faster than the speed of sound on October 14th, 1947. The X-1 was carried into the air under a converted B-29 bomber, and released at an altitude of 6800 meters o
The world's first supersonic aircraft, the Bell X-1, piloted by Charles "Chuck" Yeager, flew faster than the speed of sound on October 14th, 1947. The X-1 was carried into the air under a converted B-29 bomber, and released at an altitude of 6800 meters over Muroc, California. The X-1 was powered by a four-chamber XLR-11 rocket engine that generated kilonewtons of thrust. This pushed the aircraft to a speed of 1078 km/h at an altitude of 12,800 meters - equivalent to times the speed of sound. Yeager unofficially named to aircraft "Glamorous Glennis," after his wife. It is now displayed at the Smithsonian.
Size: 4672px × 3737px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -, -1, 1, 14, 14th, 1940s, 1947, 20th, aerodynamics, aeronautical, aeronautics, air, aircraft, airplane, america, american, aviation, barrier, bell, bw, century, charles, chuck, event, experiment, experimental, famous, fast, flight, flying, force, historic, historical, history, important, jet, mach, military, notable, october, photo, photograph, plane, science, sound, speed, states, supersonic, test, transport, transportation, united, usa, vehicle, x1, xs-1, yeager
