In October 1947, Chuck Yeager became the first man to do what?

I want to add that Chuck Yeager was born and raised in West Virginia. He graduated from Hamlin High School. The airport in our capital city of Charleston, WV is named in Yeager’s honor.

I take it this question was first published BEFORE December 7, 2020. The description (at least today, December 6, 2023) says he IS a former USAF officer.

Although "The Right Stuff" is a pretty enjoyable movie, it has the last segment completely wrong. The movie sets up the situation as Yeager, since they wouldn't consider him for an astronaut's position (which is true, because he did not have a college degree), he gets a wild hair up a certain part of his anatomy and decides to jump into that new-fangled airplane and set him an altitude record. Ridiculous!! I don't care who you are, or who you THINK you are, but the U.S. military would not tolerate such reckless, unauthorized use of Government property, i.e., one of their fighter jets. Yeager had been one of the pilots chosen for the project, testing the NF-104, a Lockheed-modified F-104 with a rocket booster engine and a tank that held 100 seconds worth of fuel. Three had been built and were undergoing flight tests. On December 10, 1963, Yeager took off on a scheduled test flight; after reaching a near-record altitude, the controls of the aircraft became unresponsive, and the NF-104 went into a flat spin. All attempts to recover were unsuccessful, so Yeager ejected at about 8,500 feet. The ejection seat's rocket motor, still hot from the ejection, hit Yeager's helmet, melting the plastic faceplate and igniting the emergency oxygen supply. This resulted in severe burns to Yeager's face and hands. Another glaring error in this sequence is the presence of Levon Helm. The character he played, Jack Ridley, had been killed in a plane crash in Japan on March 12, 1957. There is no way that he would be there.

He just passed away. Author of some great books as well...

He put on an exhibition in Charleston , W.Va. - one of his feats was flying under the Southside bridge.

Terrible to be able to say I remember when it happened.

Joanne Serin, highest Skydive 24 miles. Felix Baumgartner.

Joanne Serin, the edge of space is 100 kilometers/62 miles.

The edge of space? Where is that, and how could anyone choose that answer?

Steve Kemp, A NASA requirement was that all astronaut applicants had to have a collage diploma. That is why he was not considered, not his modest social drinking. He is the only USAF General not to have a collage diploma..

Missed yet I knew it was that or swam a great distance..I'll know next time

Got it

USAF supersonic pilot

Variation on recent Yeager Question.

He was NOT the first pilot to break the sound barrier, he was the first one to break the sound barrier in level flight as noted in the description. I suggest you rephrase the question to make that point plain.

Got it