The West Virginian pilot of the X-1 'Chuck' Yeager was a Second World War fighter ace who had turned to test flying. The X-1 was taken up to 20,000 feet slung in the bomb bay of a Boeing B-29 and then released above the Mojave desert in California. It was painted bright orange because it was thought that this would help the camera and chase aircraft tracking the flight (it was later found that white was a better colour for these purposes). Test pilot 'Chuck' Yeager named the aircraft 'Glamorous Glennis' after his wife. It was two years later before the sound barrier was broken by an American aircraft the Bell X-1. In November 1945, a British jet fighter the Gloster Meteor set a new official world speed record of 606.25 mph. Some British and American fighters may have unintentionally exceeded the speed of sound in an evasive dive and there are unconfirmed reports that the German Me 262 jet fighter managed to break the sound barrier. Technically the speed of sound had probably been broken before that by several Second World War aircraft. The aircraft was the Bell X-1 and the pilot was Captain Charles Yeager. The first flight at faster than the speed of sound occurred on 14 October 1947. Mach 1.2 to Mach 5.0 is described as supersonic, while speeds greater than Mach 5.0 are characterised as hypersonic. Less than Mach 0.8 is said to be subsonic, while Mach 0.8 to Mach 1.2 is said to be transonic. The speed of sound is commonly refered to as Mach 1, named after the 19th century Austrian physicist Ernst Mach. At 20,000 feet (6,096 meters), the speed of sound is 660 miles per hour (1,062 kilometers per hour). At sea level, the speed of sound is about 761 miles per hour (1,225 kilometers per hour). The actual speed of sound varies depending on the altitude above sea level because sound travels at slightly different speeds at different temperatures and the temperature varies according to altitude. In Washington's National Air & Space Museumīut what exactly is the speed of sound? In fact, it does not have a precise value. It was long appreciated that breaking through the sound barrier would present a formidable challenge. Ever since the Wright brothers made the first heavier than air flight on 17 December 1903, man has attempted to fly faster and faster.
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