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AF Aircraft: Mach 1 to Mach 25
From: Gatt <gatt@europa.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 23:40:30 -0800
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This didn't appear to have been broadcast nationally, but last night
(Tues 10/7) NBC showed a special in the Bay Area on the 50th
anniversary of the breaking of the sound barrier.
Typical stuff for an hour, but at the end they showed a brief shot (10
seconds or so) of Chuck Yeager giving a speech at what appeared to be
an Air Force gathering of some sort. Behind him against a dark blue
wall was a graph that marked off speeds and showed the corresponding
aircraft. I don't know how far down it went, but for example the X-1
would have been under MACH 1 and at the far left, easily visible on
camera, was the space shuttle under a sign that said MACH 25. Just
barely visible was the SR-71, and BETWEEN it and the shuttle were two
white-colored aircraft (perhaps just cruise missiles or something)
that read MACH 5 and MACH 6.
I did not have a tape handy or I would have sent you a captured frame.
In any case, it was an official Air Force thing and Yeager was
standing in front of the display. I have no idea what the gathering
was exactly or where it was held or whether it was open to the public,
and the only clue is that a lot of footage shown during the show was
at the Nellis 50th from last April. This particular setting, however,
was indoors in a large building; perhaps a hangar.
I guess all that means is that the Air Force bothered to do a graphic
showing TWO different types of aircraft and acknowledging that they
fly faster than the SR-71.
Thought I'd pass that along in case anybody has information about this.
