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BEYOND BARRIERS
FLYING THROUGH THE "UGH-KNOWN"
By Tom Terez
Barriers come in all shapes and sizes, but the ones that hold us back the most are
those we create in our own mind.
Such was the case 60 years ago, when advances in flight were bringing people closer
and closer to the sound barrier. Many likened it a brick wall. They believed that
a plane would break apart the moment it exceeded 760 miles per hour (1,223 kph).
Some scientists thought the plane might survive but the pilot would not. A few predicted
that the pilot would dramatically age.
As 1947 unfolded, American test pilot Chuck Yeager had been working with the newly
built Bell X-1, a tiny, orange bullet of a plane that had the horsepower to exceed
Mach 1.
"We were flying through uncharted territory, the 'ugh-known' as we liked to
call it," Yeager wrote 40 years later in an article for Popular Mechanics magazine.
"And as ominous as it seemed to us then, that was the whole point."
Ominous indeed. "What would it be like?" he wondered. "A pebble in
the road of aviation we had merely to step over? Or an insurmountable Chinese Wall
that would destroy the X-1 -- and me with it?"
October 14, 1947, was supposed to be yet another test day at speeds just short of
the sound barrier. But once Yeager climbed into the aircraft -- despite having broken
two ribs the day before in a low-tech fall from a horse -- he decided to power up.
It happened in an instant. He looked down at the cockpit Machmeter and caught his
breath: 1.06. Through the barrier!
"I had flown at supersonic speeds for 18 seconds," Yeager recalled. "There
was no buffet, no jolt, no shock. Above all, no brick wall to smash into. I was alive."
The great ugh-known had been pierced. The flight was so smooth that Yeager later
said his grandmother could have sipped lemonade in the backseat.
Okay, so you're not a test pilot strapping yourself into a supersonic plane. But
we all face barriers. Which of these are real, and which are imagined? Power up and
find out for yourself.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tom Terez is the founder of InnerBest.com, BetterWorkplaceNow.com,
and TomTerez.com. His talks and workshops are all about helping individuals
and organizations achieve their very best. Click here to send Tom a note.
Copyright 2003 Tom Terez. |
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