How Charles Elwood Yeager pulled a fast one & broke the barrier of speed of sound

Yuri Gagarin may have been the first man to travel to outer space in 1961. But it was a man 11 years his senior, Charles Elwood ‘Chuck’ Yeager, who first broke the speed of sound on October 14, 1947.

Yeager’s passing on Monday at 97, marks the all-too-swift passing of an era when speed mattered above all, not matters like ‘Mileage kitni hai?’ Yeager reaching a speed of 1,299 km/h in the Bell X-1 aircraft may not sound much today, the speed of sound being 1,235 km/h at 20° C. But the sonic barrier was once deemed to be ‘unbreakable’ — at least with a man inside a vehicle surviving to tell the tale. Yeager pulled it off, and pulled a fast one.

Yeager must have been disappointed at how interest in speed in travel slowed down over the years, while things like computing speed and flash mobs have gained interest. The now-defunct supersonic Tu-144 and Concorde passenger planes became economically unviable, making the 1970s80s seem more futuristic than today.


The three-crew Apollo 10 spacecraft in 1969 reached 39,897 km/h, significantly faster than an average bullet (2,736 km/h). Perhaps Yeager will have the last, fast laugh when someday, someone even Yeagerer will break the speed of light (1,079,252,848.8 km/h). Since that could mean going back in time, it may well be Yeager who’ll be Yeagerest yet again.