Did you know that there were at least two firsts involving the breaking of the sound barrier? It was on this date back in 1947 that the first recorded event of an aircraft breaking that speed happened. The speed of sound is not the same at all times, it depends on the weather and humidity, but the average would be 1125 feet per second or almost 761 miles per hour. Chuck Yeager and his X-1 aircraft which were dropped from a B-29 through the bomb bay doors, were the first to reach and exceed the speed of sound in straight powered flight. There is debate over the claims that others had done it but in power dives. It was believed that it couldn't been done that way because the controls would not be able to pull the plane out of the dive.
Then again, just a few years ago, on this day back in 2012, a skydiver also claimed to have broken the sound barrier. That would have been the first person to do so without the aid of a powered vehicle. I guess the next step will be to break the speed of light barrier. Although, at this time, it is on the impossible list. I think that we all should just slow down and smell the roses and have a great day, you hear?
I have doubts about a sky diver breaking the sound barrier. What would that do to his hearing?
ReplyDeleteIf he starts going faster than sound, everything will be silent. Any sonic boom will be behind him. That is my best guess.
DeleteWe lived in a town about 75 miles south of Rickenbacher AFB and probably 150 miles SE of Wright Pat... I can remember big booms and the windows shaking in the early '50s. Isn't it illegal now to create that effect in populated areas?
ReplyDeleteI believe so, if not illegal it is rarely allowed by the chain of command. I would think that unpopulated areas and over the ocean would be allowed. Yes, I too, remember hearing those booms and the windows rattling. The best man at our wedding, while we were both in high school, had his stone home damaged by sonic booms.
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