The $247.5 million aircraft could revive supersonic flight for civilians NASA has announced plans to design and build an aircraft that can fly faster than the speed of sound with quiet, supersonic technology. The experimental plane, or X-plane, is called the Low-Boom Flight Demonstration (LBFD) and will be designed to reduce the...
Meet Andy Green, Who Broke The Sound Barrier In A Car And Plans To Go 1,000 MPH Later This Year As Andy Green prepares to hit 1,000 mph in his Bloodhound SSC jet/rocket car in South Africa later this year, we thought now would be a good time to reminisce...
On May 18, 1953, Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound and, at the time of her death in 1980, she held more speed, altitude, and distance records than any other male or female pilot in aviation history. Included in...
Aerospace engineers went from the Wright Brothers’ first flight in 1903 to supersonic flight in just 43 years, thanks to two world wars and the accompanying advances in metallurgy, motors, and controls. During the subsequent 60 years, more than 120 different planes have flown faster than the speed of...
On October 14, 1947, a test pilot with the right stuff changed the future of aviation forever. The joke was on me. It was just after sunup on the morning of Oct. 14, 1947, and as I walked into the hangar at Muroc Army Air Base in the California high desert,...
Female American pilot Jackie Cochran made history on this day when in 1953 she became the first woman to break the sound barrier. American pilot Jackie Cochran, who became the first woman to break the sound barrier 65 years ago today, owes some of her breakthrough success in the sky...
Clarence Emil Anderson Nickname(s) Bud Anderson Born January 13, 1922 (age 94) Oakland, California Allegiance  United States of America Service/branch United States Air Force United States Army Air Forces Years of service 1942–1972 Rank Colonel Unit 357th Fighter Group Commands held 355th Tactical Fighter Wing Battles/wars World War II Vietnam War Awards Legion of Merit (2) Distinguished Flying Cross (5) Bronze Star Air Medal (18) Spouse(s) Eleanor Cosby (1945-2015, her death) Other work Test pilot Clarence Emil "Bud" Anderson (born January 13,...
On October 14, 1947, US Air Force Capt. Chuck Yeager flew a Bell X-1 experimental plane at Mach 1 some 40,000 feet over the Mojave Desert, becoming the first human to travel faster than the speed of sound. The journey to that flight started in...
Before Tom Cruise soared into the danger zone with Top Gun, Sam Shepard, who died Thursday, brought a true American pilot hero to the screen in immortal style. Shepard's breakout Oscar-nominated performance as pioneering test pilot Chuck Yeager was the soul of writer/director Philip Kaufman's 1984 classic The Right Stuff. The actor...
During a forum on the future of aeronautics representatives from NASA described the inevitability of passenger planes able to travel at speeds around 4,800 km/h (3,000 mph). Hypersonic aircraft not only allows for faster passenger travel but can also lead to faster response to global tragedy. FASTEST TECH The future of...