Although it took a dive from 30,000 feet to do it, in 1952 a CF100 was the first straight-winged airplane to break the sound barrier in controlled flight.
The Canuck (or "Clunk" as it was affectionately known) was the only mass produced Canadian jet fighter, 692 were produced from 1950 to 1958. The last of them were retired in 1981.
The photo was taken from The Jet Aircraft Museum's 2014 fundraising calendar. Buy a calendar, maybe win a flight in a vintage jet.
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| http://www.airliners.net/photo/0286144/ |
DC-8 CF-CPG, the fourth DC8 delivered to CP Air, was the first commercial aircraft to exceed the speed of sound when it was being tested by Douglas on August 21 1961 before being delivered to the airline. Once again gravity was a friend as this feat was accomplished during a shallow dive at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
Even here in Belgium we had the CANUCK! Great plane!!
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