Bell X-1

[Furball]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_M.52

In 1944 design work was considered 90% complete, and Miles was told to go ahead with the construction of three prototype M.52's. Later that year the Air Ministry signed an agreement with the United States to exchange high-speed research and data. The Bell Aircraft company was given all of the drawings and research on the M.52, but the US reneged on the agreement and no data was forthcoming in return. Unbeknownst to Miles, Bell had already started construction of a rocket powered supersonic design of their own, but were battling the problem of control. The Miles all-moving tail proved to be the solution to their problems.

[Hangtime]

enh?

Was my understanding Yeager whipped this up with Beeler & Ridley, working up desigin mods to allow the manualy set stab trim system to be operated via a trim wheel in the cockpit... AFTER they ran into the controlability problem on a .96 mach flight.

Henh.

[FalconSix]

See Rule #7

[Skuzzy]

Doesn't matter.  Chuck was not the first to break the sound barrier.  He just got the credit due to politics.  An F86 Sabre did it before he did.

The Smithsonian has this pretty well documented now, but still no official government recognition is forth coming.

[Gunslinger]

Originally posted by Skuzzy
Doesn't matter.  Chuck was not the first to break the sound barrier.  He just got the credit due to politics.  An F86 Sabre did it before he did.

The Smithsonian has this pretty well documented now, but still no official government recognition is forth coming.

wasn't that done in a dive?

[Skuzzy]

It was broken twice before Chuck did it in the X-1 by the same Sabre.  I'll have to look up the flight log again.  They were testing the Sabre's high speed handling abilities when it broke it the first time.  It was completely accidental.

The pilot was warned not to do it again, but on the next flight he broke it again.

The thing was, the Sabre maintained controlled powered flight after breaking the sound barrier.  I am pretty sure the pilot was diving, but I cannot recall the exact parameters of the flight right now.

[Hangtime]

Yep. Old codger I know has a 'card' for membership in the F-86 transonic brotherhood.

It's been suggested that a Komet broke the sound barrier during WWII in a dive.. doubt that will ever be proven. Certainly F-86's were breaking the sound barrier in dives before Chuck did it in the X1. What caught my intrest in this thread is the claim for the compressability control failure being a British fix.

[Skuzzy]

It's from Wiki Hangtime.  I would rather see something a bit more substantial than a quote from Wiki on this.

[storch]

The F86 did indeed break the "sound barrier" in a mild dive a few days prior to the Bell X-1's historic flight.  I believe (IIRC) that the issue was one of documentation or a lack thereof.  The pilot was warned never to do it again and like many of us here he went on to break rules #4, 5 and 6 the very next day.

[Gunslinger]

Originally posted by storch
The F86 did indeed break the "sound barrier" in a mild dive a few days prior to the Bell X-1's historic flight.  I believe (IIRC) that the issue was one of documentation or a lack thereof.  The pilot was warned never to do it again and like many of us here he went on to break rules #4, 5 and 6 the very next day.

[Hangtime]

Originally posted by Skuzzy
It's from Wiki Hangtime.  I would rather see something a bit more substantial than a quote from Wiki on this.

Me too. But beyond the verbal histories provided by the guys flying 'em in those days, no formal 'documentation' exists. Since Chucks flight had all the telemetry and ground observers in postion to document HIS flight, he made the 'history' books.

Beyond that, 'did not' vs 'did too' debate is only mildly interesting. What's certain is the F-86 could and DID go transonic in a dive. As to who did first and when.. well, here we are. We've got an F-86 Test Pilot's claim, but nothin on paper with a Air Force letter head stating the guy went transonic before Chuck got the X1 thru the barrier.

Personally, I think the guy did it.. mebbe someday the paperwork will come thru.

[Skuzzy]

That was good storch.

According to the documents at the Smithsonian, The documentation was confiscated (this is supposedly why the pilot went ahead and broke it again).  The government did not want any news of the sound barrier being broken by the Sabre leaking out, after spending a bunch of tax payers money on developing the X-1.
Had news leaked out about the Sabre breaking the barrier, the politicians of the day would have been screwed.

[SaburoS]

Originally posted by storch
The F86 did indeed break the "sound barrier" in a mild dive a few days prior to the Bell X-1's historic flight.  I believe (IIRC) that the issue was one of documentation or a lack thereof.  The pilot was warned never to do it again and like many of us here he went on to break rules #4, 5 and 6 the very next day.

LOL!!! Damn you, I was eating! Dern near choked!

[Wolf14]

Originally posted by SaburoS
LOL!!! Damn you, I was eating! Dern near choked!

Same here

[FalconSix]

Thousands of air vehicles broke the sound barrier long before Yeager, the X-1 or the F-86. None of them were manned of course, but I do find it funny that some people doubted it could be done after WWII and the Mach 3+ V2 rocket.