Two nights before the scheduled date for the flight, he broke two ribs while riding a horse. He was so afraid of being removed from the mission that he went to a veterinarian in a nearby town for treatment and told only his wife, as well as friend and fellow project pilot Jack Ridley about it.
On the day of the flight, Yeager was in such pain that he could not seal the airplane’s hatch by himself. Ridley rigged up a device, using the end of a broom handle as an extra lever, to allow Yeager to seal the hatch of the X-1.
Somehow I doubt Col. Yeager, unassisted (or even assisted) by the engine aboard the X-1, could have exceeded Mach 1 when dropped from the wing of a bomber flying well below 125,000 feet. Â If he did, I suspect he might not have survived.
Someone on another post was scoffing at today’s hoopla asking derisively, “so falling is now a technical breakthrough?”. Actually, no, but surviving is!
True Paul Duggan But he would have had to jump out the plane just before it hit Mach One, and I’m sure that would have killed him. And I bet he would have said “your freakin crazy if you think I’m jumping from a balloon at 125,000 thousand feet”. They didn’t have the technology back then to pull it off. What Baumgartner did today was both amazing and down right crazy!
The weather was pretty bad all through the original week. This other person tried to cross the Irish sea in a hamster wheel (for charity), and the bad weather stymied him too. NPR radio ran a tongue in cheek story about all the failed attempts that week, saluting those who strive for new boundaries, weather permitting.
If the first attempt had been set on October 14 nobody would have believed that they had chosen that date by pure chance (although there is around a 1/365 chance to coincide by chance). Then, why should we believe that the date of the second attempt has coincided by chance with this ephemerides? Perhaps they had planned to jump twice?
Zephyr López Cervilla , certainly the jump may have been planned to coincide with the anniversary of Yeager’s flight. That would make good marketing sense and even be a tribute to the original flight, although it is odd that the significance of the date was not broadcast all over the web site and in the commentary on YouTube.Â
Tyler Dresden , I didn’t get that connection? Watched a bit..was it a TV show?
Spreading this around as much as I can 🙂 Thanks for the Fun Fact Rajini Rao .. And its pretty obvious Felix chose this particular day to break the Sound Barrier.. But just imagine if he was just some minutes short from the Speed of Sound barrier.. Man if that happened, I’m sure he’d be thinking, “DOPE! Now I have to wait next year to do it again” :O
madame scientist's not-so-mad musings 
The difference, Baumgartner did it outside an Aircraft!
Quite a remarkable coincidence. #mindblown 🙂
Carl Sizelove Yeager could of done it outside an aircraft, but he didn’t want to show off.
Your Machtober comment is machnificent 🙂
Interesting information on Yeager on the Wiki site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Yeager
Two nights before the scheduled date for the flight, he broke two ribs while riding a horse. He was so afraid of being removed from the mission that he went to a veterinarian in a nearby town for treatment and told only his wife, as well as friend and fellow project pilot Jack Ridley about it.
On the day of the flight, Yeager was in such pain that he could not seal the airplane’s hatch by himself. Ridley rigged up a device, using the end of a broom handle as an extra lever, to allow Yeager to seal the hatch of the X-1.
Not original, Russell Bateman , it was from a witty comment on the FB site, and I appreciate it as well!
I couldn’t get to it via your link, Feisal. Here is an alternative Atomic Blondie
Blondie is so retro cool 🙂
Now you’ve got me on a Blondie run.
Somehow I doubt Col. Yeager, unassisted (or even assisted) by the engine aboard the X-1, could have exceeded Mach 1 when dropped from the wing of a bomber flying well below 125,000 feet. Â If he did, I suspect he might not have survived.
Someone on another post was scoffing at today’s hoopla asking derisively, “so falling is now a technical breakthrough?”. Actually, no, but surviving is!
Feisal Kamil  This is one is instant nostalgia 😀
FUNKY TOWN
The technical data Baumgartner’s enterprise provides may well prove of great value. Â
That may be the technical breakthrough.
Well said, Bill. What happened to the capsule he jumped from? Someone quipped, “Hey, he forgot to shut the door!”
LOL
Oops, LOL. Let me stick to Heart of Glass then Feisal. Haha!
Did you see the Feline Felix on Peter Lindelauf post?
True Paul Duggan But he would have had to jump out the plane just before it hit Mach One, and I’m sure that would have killed him. And I bet he would have said “your freakin crazy if you think I’m jumping from a balloon at 125,000 thousand feet”. They didn’t have the technology back then to pull it off. What Baumgartner did today was both amazing and down right crazy!
May be it was too mach for everyone, Joseph Kovacs .
Now we realize the gravity of the situation:
Spinning Wheel – High Quality Version
My brother used to listen to that all the time!
I’m surprised this one hasn’t:
Tom Petty – Free Fallin’
Van Halen – Jump (HQ music video)
Tyler Dresden Great call!!
This is Bowie kind of day.
Thanks Tyler Dresden and Jeff Godun 🙂
His next jump will be with one of those winged jump suits and he’ll try to fly around the World in one jump.
Tyler Dresden Likewise, sir.
Does this mean that the previous aborted attempt had been faked?
Excellent conspiracy theory, Zephyr López Cervilla 🙂
The weather was pretty bad all through the original week. This other person tried to cross the Irish sea in a hamster wheel (for charity), and the bad weather stymied him too. NPR radio ran a tongue in cheek story about all the failed attempts that week, saluting those who strive for new boundaries, weather permitting.
Whoa! Satan is a good looker. 🙂
my problem with satan is that he fudged the data on the provasic trials.
If the first attempt had been set on October 14 nobody would have believed that they had chosen that date by pure chance (although there is around a 1/365 chance to coincide by chance). Then, why should we believe that the date of the second attempt has coincided by chance with this ephemerides? Perhaps they had planned to jump twice?
Zephyr López Cervilla , certainly the jump may have been planned to coincide with the anniversary of Yeager’s flight. That would make good marketing sense and even be a tribute to the original flight, although it is odd that the significance of the date was not broadcast all over the web site and in the commentary on YouTube.Â
Tyler Dresden , I didn’t get that connection? Watched a bit..was it a TV show?
Thanks Rajini Rao ..I learns a lot from your posts..Vry nice Pls keep  posting ..God Bless you..:):)
nice
Spreading this around as much as I can 🙂 Thanks for the Fun Fact Rajini Rao .. And its pretty obvious Felix chose this particular day to break the Sound Barrier.. But just imagine if he was just some minutes short from the Speed of Sound barrier.. Man if that happened, I’m sure he’d be thinking, “DOPE! Now I have to wait next year to do it again” :O
wow! i didnt knew thattttt..thanks Rajini RaoÂ
Fantastic! Thanks, Thex Dar . Check these pix out everyone: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/chuck-yeager-breaks-sound-barrier-article-1.1183654
That’s Awesome! As we like to say in PNG, “Em Fitpla Mangi!”
I bet he can look into the mirror proudly and say, “I still got it!” 😉
What’s PNG? I have to know 🙂
Its short for the country Papua New Guinea. PNG
Located in the Pacific Region directly above Australia 🙂
Got it, thanks!
Stratos jump original version!
Stratos jump successful! ORIGINAL VERSION
Chuck Norris is the only person to truly “break” the sound barrier. So stop with all this nonsense!
Pssht! Chuck Norris is a tired old hat 🙂 The new awesome is this: http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/4qns/