Supersonic man is fifty Available to Purchase

The Bell X‐1, which was the first aircraft to break the “Sound Barrier” 50 years ago, did so because of sheer determination. It was a workable, sturdy design, with a powerful rocket engine, a sufficiently skilled pilot and was backed by people of vision. That it flew successfully at Mach 1 and beyond, should have surprised no one. As Frank Whittle had said about the flight of the first British jet aircraft in 1939, “That’s what it was bloody well designed to do”.