Aces Wild: The Race for Mach 1

Flight Journal, Jun 1999 by DeGroat, Robert S

Aces Wild: The Race for Mach 1

by Al Blackburn. Scholarly Resources Inc., 104 Greenhill Ave., Wilmington, DE 198051897; (800) 772-8937,' 240 pages; 9 b&w photographs; $24.95.

It is generally acknowledged that on October 14, 1947, Chuck Yeager became the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound. The U.S. Air Force recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of that event with great fanfare, but is this date accurate?

Former test pilot Al Blackburn's new book, "Aces Wild: The Race for Mach 1" debates whether Yeager was indeed the first to break through the "sonic wall." Blackburn believes that the late George Welch, a test pilot for North American Aviation (NAA), should hold the title. He further believes that Welch accomplished this feat on October 2, 1947, in the prototype XP-86 Sabrejet of Korean War fame-not in a special rocket plane such as the Bell X-1.

For those who don't follow such things, George Welch was a WW II fighter ace whose first victories came during the Japanese surprise attack at Pearl Harbor. One of the few American pilots to get off the ground, he officially bagged four planes, though most historians give him credit for six on that terrible day in 1941. He later flew P-39s and P-38s in the Pacific theater and achieved 16 confirmed victories in 348 missions. When a bout of malaria ended his combat flying, he became a test pilot for NAA, working first on the new P-51 and then on the F-86. In 1954, Welch was killed during a test flight of the F-lOO Super Sabre.

The evidence Blackburn presents is both largely circumstantial and fascinating, and it's surely controversial. To explain why Welch should be "first," he provides interviews with many of those involved and details the background history, and regardless of a reader's views on this subject, the author presents a persuasive case.

This book is sure to be of interest to enthusiasts and historians alike. The very subject matter should spark some heated debates, and that, in itself, is not bad. The name of George Welch will at least be listed in its rightful place-among the foremost test pilots of his generation. It's about time.