On October 14, 1947, General Chuck Yeager was the first person to break the sound barrier in an airplane. Before he did this, he flew up to 43,000 feet above sea level. He went to this high altitude for two reasons, what were they?

kevinatilusa

Less damage from Sonic Boom and a lower air pressure (to get less drag)? Jan 01 04, 12:40 AM

Hamlet.

kevinatilusa is partially correct. The damage from the Sonic Boom was a great concern because many pilots had died during WWII in mid-air when their planes broke up during dives. The way this was addressed was through design - Yeager's plane had its wings swept back, so the wings would be behind the shock front and not be torn off... Sound travels at approximately 760 mph (miles per hour) in warm, dense air as found close to sea level. The cooler and less-dense the air is, the lower the speed of sound. Since air is less dense at higher elevations, it would be much easier to break the sound barrier at these levels. Knowing the temperature and density of the air at 40,000 feet above sea level, scientists determined that the speed of sound would be reduced to only 660 mph. As an added bonus, engineers found that not only was the speed of sound slower at such elevations, but when the air has such low density, the parasitic drag (the drag due to friction), is very low as well. Thus the two reasons why Yeager traveled so high to break the sound barrier were to both reduce the necessary speed needed to do it, and to decrease the parasitic drag. Whew! Jan 01 04, 9:55 AM

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