from subsonic to supersonic as engineers and pilots began to look upon supersonic flight as feasible possibility (Hallion 193). The fact that the nation possessed an airplane that could actually fly through the "barrier" caused the barrier to melt away (Hallion 193). It gave aircraft designers and manufacturers confidence in developing transonic and supersonic airplanes (Hallion 193). Less than a year after Yeager exceeded Mach 1, Air Force pilots regularly dove faster than the speed of sound in production F 86 Sabres (Hallion 193). Yeager's accomplishment eventually led to the development of a wide variety of additional supersonic aircraft (Hallion 193).
In addition, the XS 1 also made a number of valuable technical contributions to the state of aeronautical science (Hallion 193). Primarily, the development of the XS 1 gave NACA and Air Force engineers a real vehicle with which to investigate the problems of high speed flight (Hallion 193). In one design, they brought together the best aerodynamic data and ideas concernin
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