New Book Claims Yeager Wasn't First to Break the Sound Barrier

There is a whole genre of books dedicated to trying to prove the official individual who set a record or accomplished something first did NOT actually do the deed. Look at the almost goofy level war over whether the Wrights were the first to fly heavier than air aircraft. It's almost comical at times. the primary problem with the genre is there's almost no proof one way or another. Or rather what proof brought out is circumstantial and anecdotal, not even in a documented form.

Well, now we have another entry into the library of "I Know Who Did It First! Really!" Dan Hampton has written the book _Chasing the Demon_ about the efforts to break the sound barrier. The front cover ought to give caught when it claims to be a secret history of the event. The primary treatise about the event is that Yeager, as you might have inferred, was not the first to break the sound barrier. Hampton maintains George Welsh did the deed 13 days before Yeager. He supposedly did the deed 13 days before Yeager had during a dive in a XP-86.

I thought I'd heard of folks going supersonic prior to Yeager through going into a dive before, but perhaps I'd already heard this tale from elsewhere. While I don't dismiss the entire thing as being impossible, I think I need more than anecdotal evidence the author seems to be presenting.

What do others think?

nypost.com...

a reply to: anzha

I thought it was already accepted that Chuck Yeager was the first to break the sound barrier in LEVEL flight.

Doing it in a dive is not quite that impressive

I thought it had already been broken by a guy that got messed up in a rocket chair on a rail
It wasnt the speed , it was the sudden stop....

originally posted by: abe froman
a reply to: anzha

I thought it was already accepted that Chuck Yeager was the first to break the sound barrier in LEVEL flight.

Doing it in a dive is like kissing your sister.

Quite true. The record is for level flight, and Yeager was the first.

...Quality AC-DELCO parts contributed as well...

double

a reply to: anzha

i bet there are alot of people who broke it before the official record, but like has been said when your going ballistic at the ground its not that impressive.

controlled flight in and out of transonic speed is the key

He also broke the sound barrier in an F15 at age 89 a truly remarkable guy

originally posted by: khnum
He also broke the sound barrier in an F15 at age 89 a truly remarkable guy

back in the 90s when Edwards AFB was still doing kickass air shows they'd have Yeager fly an f15 and break the sound barrier every year at 10am sharp to kick off the show. later in the day they'd have someone go up in a sr71 and do mach 3 flyby at 80k. damned great airshows. one year to reward the early birds who showed up at the gate at 6am to get in they had the b2 do low level flybys over the line of cars. the plane's mores maneuverable than you'd think. Wish Edwards still did airshows like that but she's got a full plate these days.

originally posted by: madmac5150

originally posted by: abe froman
a reply to: anzha

I thought it was already accepted that Chuck Yeager was the first to break the sound barrier in LEVEL flight.

Doing it in a dive is like kissing your sister.

Quite true. The record is for level flight, and Yeager was the first.

...Quality AC-DELCO parts contributed as well...

and some Beeman's and a sawed off broom handle

a reply to: anzha

I have no doubt about Chuck Yaeger being the first in level flight - the guy's a legend and rightfully so.

As for the Wright Bros it's a bit of a grey area IMHO - they were the first to do it and land in one piece along with huge press coverage at the time. I was in NZ 40 years ago and read about a farmer/inventor who, it's claimed, made and flew a heavier than air 'plane' in the South Island near Christchurch 9 months earlier than the Wright Bros. All they have now is some pieces of his plane and engine that have been preserved down there. It's a bit of an anecdotal claim though with a lack of witnesses so who knows? and what difference would it make anyway.

Richard Pearse

a reply to: anzha
There was also a Luftwaffe Pilot named Hans Guido Mutke who claimed he broke the soundbarrier in 1945 during a dive in an Me-262...
There were probably a couple of pilots who broke the sound barrier during the war but didnt survive the experience.

a reply to: BASSPLYR

I finally saw a B-2 in the flesh a couple years ago when the Preakness managed to wrangle a flyby as part of the kick-off for the main event, and yeah, I was impressed by the line it was able to cut through the hilly north Baltimore terrain.

It's also not really that large of an aircraft (at least compared to a B-1 or a B-52), so I'll bet that helps as well.

This is nothing new. I heard the story about "Wheaties Welch" breaking the sound barrier in the 80's. There was a good chance that Geoffery de Havilland broke it during the flight that killed him.

At that time it was probably a big deal to break the sound barrier in a dive . It would still have been the first . But the goal was for sustained supersonic level flight.
So anything less is still an advancement but not the goal and not the prize.
When attempting something that has never been achieved, getting close is always fun ...

a reply to: anzha
Remember a British movie about breaking the sound barrier while diving, one pilot got killed doing it and the one that survived did so by pushing the elevator down during the turbulent stage when the controls freeze.

found it; en.wikipedia.org...