Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles “Chuck” Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier at 660 mph, died on Tuesday at age 97.
Yeager’s X-1 rocket plane broke the record on Oct. 14, 1947, flying over California’s Mojave Desert.
During WW2, Yeager shot down 13 German planes on 64 missions. He was shot down once behind enemy lines in German-held France, escaping with the help of French partisans.
After breaking the sound barrier, which the military kept secret for a year, he continued chasing that demon in the air, and flew more than 1,600 mph on Dec. 12, 1953.
