Word: sonic
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...which looks something like Republic's Thunderjet. Probable maximum speed of the YAK-17: around 650 m.p.h. Jane's also reports a "research" plane of German design with a maximum speed of nearly 685 m.p.h. This is probably the plane which the Russians claim has passed the sonic barrier...
What violence these would do no one knew, but so many airplanes had met disaster far below sonic speed that the "sonic wall" had earned a fearful reputation. Designers and pilots spoke of it with awe. It was widely believed that when an airplane reached the speed of sound, it would disintegrate...
...could hear the clock ticking on the instrument panel. After each landing, Captain Jackie L. Ridley, Muroc flight test engineer, analyzed the records of the X-1's instruments. On the whole, they were encouraging. But no one was sure what would happen at the critical speed. The sonic wall was still unpierced; the big test still lay ahead. Chuck is reported to have remarked cheerfully: "I'll be back all right. In one piece, or a whole lot of little pieces...
What he experienced at the critical moment when he crossed the sonic barrier is a tightly guarded secret. But when he looked at his instruments after a few moments, he realized that he was flying actually faster than sound. The terrible sonic wall lay far behind. The X-1 had not disintegrated. It still flew beautifully ("a pilot's dream") and Chuck was still in one piece...
...friends hope, the Old Man will transfer him to some other Air Force job where promotion steps faster than the death that rides in the cockpit with every test pilot. From that day, others, to whom Chuck Yeager has pointed the way, will carry on with flight beyond the sonic wall...