Bell X-1 Mach Buster vintage style military aviation art by – Squadron Posters!
The first manned supersonic flight occurred on 14 October 1947, less than a month after the U.S. Air Force had been created as a separate service. Captain Charles “Chuck” Yeager piloted USAF aircraft #46-062, nicknamed “Glamorous Glennis” for his wife. The airplane was drop launched from the bomb bay of a B-29 and reached Mach 1.06 . Following burnout of the engine, the plane glided to a landing on the dry lake bed, this was XS-1 flight number 50.