Chuck Yeager

Retired Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager February 13 1923 December 7 2020 was a former United States Air Force officer flying ace and recordsetting test pilot In 1947 he became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight Yeager shot down at least 11 enemy aircraft mostly flying a P51 Mustang on the Western Front during WWII After the war he went on to become a test pilot during a time of major investment and rapid technological development of aircraft in the late 1940s and the 1950s Flying the Bell X1 a small experimental rocketpowered aircraft Yeager became the first human to officially break the sound barrier exceeding Mach 1 on October 14 1947 He continued to test pilot a variety of aircraft and set many subsequent aviation records