October 14, 1947

The next day, the B-29 carried Yeager and the X-1 (in the bomb bay) aloft. At the right altitude, Yeager painfully climbed down into the X-1, the broom handle worked.

The B-29 pilot counted down from 10, always missing a number and not the same number - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 - drop. The B-29 pilot always dropped Yeager into a stall. Yeager pointed the nose down to gain speed and come out of the stall.

He then let all 4 rocket chambers. And at 10:23am, he had broken the sound barrier. He called over the radio, "This machmeter is all screwy."

It was a classified project so this was Yeager's code to Ridley - that they had done it. They had done what the ol' man, Col Boyd, their commanding officer whom they respected greatly, had set them out to do - break the sound barrier, exceed MACH 1.

Everyone before them had died trying. And without it, mankind would not have gotten into space. And without it, the USA would not have maintained air superiority thus saving many lives.