Who broke it first?

[Old Sport]

Widewing's site (Planes and Pilots of WWII) had an article on the likelihood of Wheaties Welch breaking the barrier first in a shallow dive. No diffinitive proof, but several interesting circumstantial bits of info. I guess his site has gone down.

Best.

[viking73]

There were several planes from several countries that broke the sound barrier according to pilots and unofficial observers. Many as stated before on the way to a crash. Most were accidentally done and not planned. But Yeager's was officially recorded. As for the other X-1 pilots before Yeager, would be interesting to know what their speed was and altitude which makes a difference. Yeager may have also been the fastest over Mach 1 at the time. (?) Good post for thought tho.

[Charge]

In my mind there is no doubt that 262 in certain conditions could and did break the sound barrier in a dive, although due to serious controllability problems Mutke was probably quite fortunate to survive the event. I have also understood that F86 could also exceed speed of sound, and also do it more safely than 262, but it was never confirmed from the ground with measurements so those remained unofficial (although I thought that the sonic boom is quite good confirmation). The X-1 program had the specific plane and measuring systems to confirm the speeds so it was quite natural for the credit to go there too.

If that is such a huge deed then let Mr Yeager have the glory by all means.  

-C+

[EskimoJoe]

In my mind there is no doubt that 262 in certain conditions could and did break the sound barrier in a dive, although due to serious controllability problems Mutke was probably quite fortunate to survive the event. I have also understood that F86 could also exceed speed of sound, and also do it more safely than 262, but it was never confirmed from the ground with measurements so those remained unofficial (although I thought that the sonic boom is quite good confirmation). The X-1 program had the specific plane and measuring systems to confirm the speeds so it was quite natural for the credit to go there too.

If that is such a huge deed then let Mr Yeager have the glory by all means.  

-C+

If our 262 can't do it in-game, it couldn't in real life! After all, they're one in the same, right?  

[Tupac]

I've surpassed 800 IAS in a 163 while in a straight down dive from 50k.

Not sure if its possible to break Mach though.

[Yeager]

Word on the street is that Hoover was so pissed at not being selected as prime by Boyd that he snuck into the X1 and hid behind Yeagers seat on Oct 14, 47.  So there were TWO people to officially break the SB simultaneoulsy.

Take that to the bank and try cashing it 

[Guppy35]

Word on the street is that Hoover was so pissed at not being selected as prime by Boyd that he snuck into the X1 and hid behind Yeagers seat on Oct 14, 47.  So there were TWO people to officially break the SB simultaneoulsy.

Take that to the bank and try cashing it 

I thought Hoover was flying chase in the F-80

[Yeager]

I thought Hoover was flying chase in the F-80

That was Ridley.  This thing was planned out.  A Ridley/Hoover conspiracy.

[jamdive]

Who was going faster when they exceeded the speed of sound?

[columbus]

your all wrong ..

some guy with a bullwhip did many many years ago

The cracking sound a bullwhip makes when properly wielded is, in fact, a small sonic boom. The end of the whip, known as the "cracker", moves faster than the speed of sound, thus creating a sonic boom.[6] The whip was probably the first human invention to break the sound barrier.

A bullwhip tapers down from the handle section to the cracker. The cracker has much less mass than the handle section. When the whip is sharply swung, the energy is transferred down the length of the tapering whip. In accordance with the formula for kinetic energy Ek = mv2 / 2, the velocity of the whip increases with the decrease in mass, which is how the whip reaches the speed of sound and causes a sonic boom.

[jamdive]

your all wrong ..

some guy with a bullwhip did many many years ago

The cracking sound a bullwhip makes when properly wielded is, in fact, a small sonic boom. The end of the whip, known as the "cracker", moves faster than the speed of sound, thus creating a sonic boom.[6] The whip was probably the first human invention to break the sound barrier.

A bullwhip tapers down from the handle section to the cracker. The cracker has much less mass than the handle section. When the whip is sharply swung, the energy is transferred down the length of the tapering whip. In accordance with the formula for kinetic energy Ek = mv2 / 2, the velocity of the whip increases with the decrease in mass, which is how the whip reaches the speed of sound and causes a sonic boom.

Bull whips fly? Damn, where have I been.

[columbus]

the OP never specified anything about flying just about 2 people flying assuming that was the only thing able to break the sound barrier. i guess it how you look at the question.

[Bear76]

I am sure many people exceeded the speed of sound on the way to their deaths.  Maybe even some survived accidentally.  

What you really must ask yourself is this:
Who has the recorded telemetry, the scientific data necessary to PROVE it.

Think on that a spell and let me know if you need the answer provided to you.

People that quote themselves in their sig line scare me

[grizz441]

i can say i have a Lexus in my drive way (its not mine)  but its there....thought i didnt put up a picture proving it....does not change the fact that its the truth....
whether or not people believe it, does not change whether or not it actually happened.

Your daddy's?

[Ripsnort]

Everytime you snap a whip, you've broken the sound barrier. Cowboys were doing it long before yeager.