# 4019 - 2006 $14.40 X-Plane, Express Mail
2006 $14.40 X-Plane
Express Mail
City: New York, NY
First Supersonic Flight
Since the early 1940s, aviation scientists had been working to solve the problem of breaking the “sound barrier” – the sharp increase in aerodynamic drag that aircraft experience as they approach the speed of sound. For this purpose, the Bell Aircraft Company and the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics built the rocket-powered Bell X-1.
To pilot the craft, the project’s planners selected Chuck Yeager. Born in 1923, Yeager flew 64 combat missions in World War II, claiming 12.5 aerial victories. After the war, Yeager had worked briefly as a flight instructor before taking a job as an assistant maintenance officer in the Flight Test Division. In that role, he got to fly nearly every fighter that came out of maintenance. Yeager’s flying skills were recognized and he was selected in 1946 to join a new test pilot school. After graduating, he was selected to pilot the X-1.
Yeager continued to test new airplanes for the military until his retirement in 1975. That year, he was awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor for the part he played in breaking the sound barrier. In 2012, he flew in the back seat of an F-15 to re-enact his historic 1947 record.
Yeager’s accomplishment was honored on a 1997 postage stamp (pictured above). The first-day ceremony for the stamp, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the flight, took place at Edwards Air Force Base, where the historic event happened.
The stamp includes microprinting for security. With a magnifying glass, “X-1” can be seen on the horizontal stabilizer on the tail and a row of three “USPS” is above the wing. Another microprinting caused controversy because on the nose of the plane is written: “Glamorous Glenna” a misspelling of Yeager’s plane “Glamorous Glennis,” named after his wife.
Click here to view video from Yeager’s historic flight.
2006 $14.40 X-Plane
Express Mail
City: New York, NY
First Supersonic Flight
Since the early 1940s, aviation scientists had been working to solve the problem of breaking the “sound barrier” – the sharp increase in aerodynamic drag that aircraft experience as they approach the speed of sound. For this purpose, the Bell Aircraft Company and the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics built the rocket-powered Bell X-1.
To pilot the craft, the project’s planners selected Chuck Yeager. Born in 1923, Yeager flew 64 combat missions in World War II, claiming 12.5 aerial victories. After the war, Yeager had worked briefly as a flight instructor before taking a job as an assistant maintenance officer in the Flight Test Division. In that role, he got to fly nearly every fighter that came out of maintenance. Yeager’s flying skills were recognized and he was selected in 1946 to join a new test pilot school. After graduating, he was selected to pilot the X-1.
Yeager continued to test new airplanes for the military until his retirement in 1975. That year, he was awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor for the part he played in breaking the sound barrier. In 2012, he flew in the back seat of an F-15 to re-enact his historic 1947 record.
Yeager’s accomplishment was honored on a 1997 postage stamp (pictured above). The first-day ceremony for the stamp, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the flight, took place at Edwards Air Force Base, where the historic event happened.
The stamp includes microprinting for security. With a magnifying glass, “X-1” can be seen on the horizontal stabilizer on the tail and a row of three “USPS” is above the wing. Another microprinting caused controversy because on the nose of the plane is written: “Glamorous Glenna” a misspelling of Yeager’s plane “Glamorous Glennis,” named after his wife.
Click here to view video from Yeager’s historic flight.