Was the Me262 the First Airplane to Break the Sound Barrier?
Was the German jet interceptor Messerschmidt 262 the first airplane in the world to break the sound barrier? The answer to this question is shaking up the aeronautical world, because it could easily knock several shining heroes of the US Air Force from their pedestals. As far as official historians are concerned, Charles Yeager was the first pilot to achieve the great feat of supersonic flight, on board a Bell X-1 in 1947. In the future, the historians may have to revise their teachings, however. Luftwaffe veterans are claiming that they broke the sound barrier in 1944. The Americans are uncommonly proud of their pilots, whom they praise to high heaven whenever they set new records or do anything exceptional. In American military legends, breaking the sound barrier was as great a feat as the first space flights. Historical revision is going to be painful for them, especially as it pertains to those Air Force pilots who were involved in the binge of record-breaking in the late 40s and e
