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A half a century ago, U.S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager successfully cracked the sound barrier.But for the first World War II fighter pilots to experience this freakish phenomenon, it seemed an impenetrable wall:As they approached a certain speed, their planes went out of control.The international race to build an aircraft that could withstand this uncanny force was fraught with danger, ambition, and intrigue -- and NOVA takes you behind the scenes to tell the real story of those who risked their lives to fly faster than sound.
Watch vintage footage of dramatic test flights -- and secret shots of Britain's promising, bullet-shaped M-52, which was mysteriously canceled before it got off the ground.Listen to visionary designers who invented wings, bodies, engines, and tails that pushed planes to supersonic limits.Meet the heroic pilots who had the right stuff -- those who survived -- like the invincible Yeager, who flew his rocket-powered X-I into aviation history on October 14, 1997, with a chest full of broken ribs.As one pilot says, "There's this feeling you have, this ridiculous feeling the young have, of immortality.And I think this is what allows you to press on."
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