Boom! How we break the sound barrier.

Robb Y    Airborne Activities     airborne experiences

In the development of flight there have been several notable moments: the first solo crossing of the Atlantic (Charles Lindbergh,1927), the moment the first African American woman got her flying license (Bessie Coleman, 1921) and the day that the round the world non-stop record was set (Dick Rutan and JeanaYeager, 1986).

Although when it comes to speed, it’s the breaking of the sound barrier which was perhaps the noisiest.

In 1947, before he went on to test-fly jets, pilot Chuck Yaeger (unrelated to Jeana) became the first person to break the sound barrier.

Well just how do you break a sound barrier? With the briefest of physics lessons, all will be revealed!

We all know sound travels slower than light: that’s why we see an explosion in the distance before we hear the sound it creates.

We will see an airplane that’s traveling below the speed of sound before we hear it (because light travels faster than sound), but when the plane reaches the speed of sound, it creates a wall of sound around itself: when it breaks this wall – Boom!

Sound moves at almost 1,000ft per second through air, so match this speed and you get the sonic boom.

So when Chuck flew the experimental X-1 jet over the California desert, he was taking flight to its very limit, pushing the sound envelope.

Perhaps the most famous civilian plane to break the sound barrier regularly was Concorde, which amongst other destinations flew from New York to London until 2003.

The first challenge for would-be pilots is to master the basics of flight. It’s not easy, but with expert tuition most people can find themselves behind the controls of a plane within just a few weeks.

Passing their pilot’s license and piloting a supersonic jet, well that’s another thing…

If you enjoyed this article please consider sharing it!