Today, supersonic fighters are becoming popular in the air forces of countries around the world. However, aeronautical engineers face many challenges in overcoming the sound wall from 70 years ago.
In the 1940s, the world aviation industry had a strong development with many new aircraft models. However, all planes have trouble reaching the speed of sound. During this period, all aircraft used propeller engines. When the speed of sound is reached, a strong vibration occurs, resulting in loss of control of the aircraft.
This phenomenon disappears when the aircraft decelerates below the speed of sound. From there, the term “sound wall” was born, becoming a major barrier for mankind to fly faster than the speed of sound.
According to Business Insider, the journey to humanity’s first supersonic flight began in late 1943, at a conference led by the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (the predecessor of the US Space Agency). NASA) today) organization.
Pilot Chuck Yeager in the cockpit of the Bell X-1 test plane. (Photo: US Air Force).
Conference attendees were looking for ways to improve airspeed and concluded that a real prototype with a test pilot would yield better results than a wind tunnel experiment. Bell Corporation was assigned as the main contractor.
The Bell X-1 prototype , nicknamed “Glamorous Glennis” , was completed in 1945 but was not yet able to fly. The process of fixing the technical problems lasted until 1947. Chuck Yeager , a veteran US Air Force pilot, was assigned as the main test pilot.
However, days before the first flight was made, Yeager broke two ribs in an accident he described as a “disagreement” with the horse. However, the test flight is still proceeding as planned.
The accident greatly affected Yeager, he had to use a hand-held broom handle to open and close the door of the X-1 plane. The night before the historic flight, Yeager slept very little because of pain in his ribs, but he insisted that he would only cancel the test if he was unable to enter the X-1 cockpit.
“If I could step into the pilot’s seat, I knew I could fly,” Yeager said in a 1987 statement. The Bell X-1 was attached to the bomb bay of a B-29 Superfortress bomber. , when the required altitude is reached, X-1 will be released from B-29. The X-1 will then activate the rocket engine mounted inside the fuselage to overcome the speed of sound.
On October 14, 1947, everything was ready, the B-29 took off into the sky, Major Bod Cardenas, the B-29 main pilot, began the countdown. Richard Frost, a Bell Corporation engineer, gripped the joystick and cut the cable to release the X-1 into the air.
After disembarking from the B-29, pilot Yeager activated the rocket engine and the X-1 moved forward leaving the B-29 and the P-80 surveillance aircraft behind. “Then I ignited the 2nd and 4th combustion chambers, and the plane accelerated immediately leaving a trail of white smoke behind,” Yeager said.
The X-1 reached the “wall of sound” as Yeager tested the aircraft’s stabilizer. The aircraft’s tail rudder and lift lose its effectiveness as the air thins, but the stabilizer remains effective, even at Mach 0.95 (about 1,162km/h).
Yeager recounted that he very calmly and professionally noted the smallest changes of the aircraft during acceleration. The aircraft continued to be allowed to accelerate until the clock in the cockpit reached Mach 0.96 (about 1,173km/h).
The X-1 continued to rush forward until the clock only read Mach 1.06 (about 1,296km/h). The wall of sound, the great barrier of aviation, has been penetrated, creating a major turning point in the history of world aviation.
“I flew at supersonic speed for about 18 seconds, no big bumps, no shocks or shakes and most of all no walls hit, I’m alive,” Yeager wrote in the book. 40th anniversary of mankind’s first supersonic flight.
The X-1 then landed safely and without any technical problems. At that time, the US Air Force kept flight information very tight. However, pilot Yeager’s story of breaking the wall of sound was leaked to Aviation Week and New York Times reporters in an article on December 21.
Former pilot Yeager speaks at the 50th anniversary of the first supersonic flight at Edwards Air Force Base, California. (Photo: Reuters).
At the time, Aviation Week described the event as “a big surprise” at the ease of testing it achieved. The US Air Force was furious and threatened to sue the reporters who leaked their secret stories.
Yeager’s achievement was not officially recognized until June 1948, when US Air Force Secretary Stuart Symington announced that the sound wall had been broken by two test aircraft.
Based on the results obtained from mankind’s first supersonic flight, aeronautical engineers have come up with new designs that are more efficient, fly faster. Yeager continued to serve as a test pilot until 1975.
The fastest speed record that Yeager achieved is Mach 2.44 (about 2,900km/h). Yeager retired in 1975 with the rank of Brigadier General.
70 years after mankind’s first supersonic flight, hundreds of models of supersonic aircraft have been built. Airplanes are becoming more sophisticated these days, but manned flying vehicles are still limited to Mach 3 (about 3,600km/h).
The field of supersonic aviation still focuses mainly on military aircraft. Only 2 models of supersonic aircraft were applied in the field of civil aviation, but they were also quickly killed due to catastrophic accidents while flying.