Breaking sound barrier and other records North American F-86 Sabre

jackie cochran in cockpit of canadair sabre chuck yeager.

the f-86a set first official world speed record of 671 miles per hour (1,080 km/h) on september 15, 1948 @ muroc dry lake flown major richard l. johnson, usaf.

the air force announced xf-86 had exceeded mach 1 in dive on april 26, 1948. shortly before death in 1996, north american aerodynamicist ed horkey claimed george wheaties welch had exceeded mach 1 earlier. in aces wild, former na test pilot al blackburn suggests dates october 1, 1947. chuck yeager broke sound barrier on 14 october 1947 in rocket-propelled bell x-1 during level flight, making first true supersonic aircraft. 5 years later, on 18 may 1953, jacqueline cochran became first woman break sound barrier, flying one-off canadian-built f-86 sabre mk 3, alongside chuck yeager. col. k. k. compton won 1951 bendix air race in f-86a average speed of 553.76 mph.