This Month in W.Va. History: West Virginia native Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier

If there were a Mount Rushmore of West Virginians, Chuck Yeager would most definitely be on it. 

Yeager is a lot of things to a lot of people, but on Oct. 14, 1947, he climbed into an X-1 research plane with two broken ribs and became the first person in the world to break the sound barrier. The supersonic flight would open the door for space exploration, and he would go on to break even more speed and altitude records.

Before becoming a worldwide name, Yeager was born in the Lincoln County town of Myra. In 1941, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force where he became a mechanic. At the time, he wasn’t eligible for flight training because of his age or education, but when the country entered World War II a few months later, eligibility requirements were relaxed.

Blessed with unusually good vision, Yeager became an ace fighter pilot. He finished the war with more than 11 official victories. By the end of his tour in 1945, he’d been promoted to captain and had flown 61 missions, including one where he was shot down over France, evaded capture and escaped back to England.

Following the war, his high number of flight hours and maintenance background qualified him to be a test pilot, which set him up to be in the position to break the sound barrier. While operating as a test pilot, Yeager also remained in command of squadrons and air wings for another 30 years until his retirement in 1975. 

To further add to his mythology, Yeager broke the sound barrier again on the 65th anniversary in 2012 at the age of 89. He is one of, if not the most, decorated pilots of all time and is widely regarded as America’s best.

Yeager, who lived in northern California toward the end of his life, died in December 2020.