Originally posted by ChopSaw
I'll really need to see some documentation of that allegation. As far as I've been able to determine, Yeager was the first man to exceed the speed of sound. He did it in Bell Lab's X-1 rocket plane.
I've done more research on this one topic than most college students do in the course of 4 years.
I've talked with Welch's son, and other family members. I've talked to witnesses and more than a few people out at Dryden and Edwards AFB. I've spent many hours interviewing test pilots who flew with Welch as well as USAAF pilots who flew with George in the Pacific. There's absolutely no doubt that Welch beat Yeager... None. The total weight of evidence is overwhelming.
By the way, I never cease to be amazed at how much wikipedia material is blatant plagiarizing of copyrighted property. Their comments on Welch were taken from Al Blackburn's book and/or my articles in Flight Journal and on the web without any accreditation to either author.
Back in 1998, I had the opportunity to review the final draft manuscript of Al Blackburn's book, Aces Wild: The Race for Mach One. Al was a North American test pilot, and he worked under Welch. Al's book chronicles the events occurring at Muroc back in the summer and fall of 1947. Al presents tremendous evidence that Welch beat Yeager, and did so while incurring the wrath of the Air Force and Stuart Symington. When Al's book was released in 1999, it started a firestorm which has not abated yet. On the dust jacket are brief review blurbs written by the former Director of the National Aviation and Space Museum, Walter Boyne and former Secretary of the Air Force, John McLucas. Oh yeah, my review is on the dust cover too, just above theirs..
I went a bit further than Blackburn, taking the time to gather a concensus from members of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. Virtually to a man, those I spoke with agree that Welch beat Yeager. I followed up by tracking down additional family members and members of the North American team. Everything I uncovered only reaffirmed what Blackburn had already established.
It's a long, long story and I cannot tell it here with any justice. However, you can read about Welch in detail, in my article
The Amazing George Welch.
This article presents not only Welch's supersonic exploits, but his remarkable war record as well. Read the piece and you'll have a much better understanding of what happened back then and why it happened.
Did you know that Welch was also the first man to exceed Mach 1 in level flight in an air-breathing aircraft? He did this on the maiden flight of the first Super Sabre (YF-100, there was no XF-100).
I am in the process of writing an in-depth piece on Welch, having learned much more about his career and personal life since my previous articles were published almost 6 years ago. I have a considerable collection of photos, including some taken when Welch was flying with the 80th FS of the 8th FG. Welch was credited with 16 kills in WW2, including four at Pearl Harbor. That excludes several kills that, according to squadron mates, Welch never bothered to submit paperwork for.
Just so people know, Welch and Yeager worked together on many occasions. If Welch needed a USAF chase pilot, he always asked for Yeager. For his part, Yeager held Welch in very high esteem, but thought that Welch took too many chances, and he was right.
When the USAF stated that the XS-1 was the first supersonic aircraft, they lied deliberately. Admitting that a privately funded jet fighter prototype had done it first would have undermined the credibility of the newly minted USAF. It also would likely have forced a review of their research budget by Congress. An Air Force plane piloted by an Air Force pilot HAD to do it first, or the consequences could be far reaching. Moreover, Larry Bell was a personal friend of Truman, and the President had stated that Bell would get the first opportunity at the sound barrier. Of course, George Welch was flying an aircraft that was capable of greater than Mach 1 in a shallow dive. Welch didn't give a damn what the Air Force said and with the eye-winking blessing of XP-86 program manager, took the XP-86 to at least Mach 1.02 on its maiden flight. He repeated this two weeks later to the day, and about an hour before Yeager pushed the XS-1 to Mach 1.06 in a slight climb.
Virtually everyone at Muroc understood that Welch had swiped the thunder of the XS-1 program. However, the XS-1 was classified program and the USAF clamped a lid on the story as soon as it leaked. They postponed any official announcement that the XP-86 had gone supersonic until April of 1948. Nonetheless, NACA Officially clocked the XP-86 at Mach 1.04 on November 13, 1947. Welch flew the same profile he had previously flown on the 1st and 14th of October. Despite this, the USAF felt it necessary to delay releasing this to the press to protect their research programs. In fact, the USAF had no specific time table for announcing anything on either the XS-1 or the XP-86. Its hand was forced when a reporter for Aviation Week magazine leaked the story of the XS-1 flight in the December 1947 issue.
By the way, almost no one knows that Welch spent time in Japan and Korea demonstrating the F-86. According to a family member, Welch flew 11 combat sorties with the 4th Fighter Wing over North Korea. His log book reportedly shows that George claimed to have shot down three MiG-15s during two of those sorties. No official claims were filed as Welch was not supposed to be flying combat missions. These kills were assigned to pilots in the squadron by drawing cards. Until I get copies of the log book pages, I can't make that claim in print. Currently, this is the one item holding up the project. If and when we can get the reclusive Jay Welch to allow examination or partial copying of his dad's log book, then I can get it finished and off to the publisher. Jay answers e-mails infrequently if at all, so I'm trying to enlist the help of his cousins.
My regards,
Widewing
