The Bell X-1, originally XS-1 was the first aircraft to exceed the speed of sound in controlled, level flight. It was the first of the so called X-planes, a series of aircraft designated for testing of new technologies and usually kept highly secret.
Many believe the X-1 was heavily based on the British designed Miles M.52 jet. The Miles M.52 was strangely cancelled by the British government months away from a test flight, and all technical data regarding it was transferred to Bell. Later tests show that the Miles M.52 would have broken the sound barrier if allowed to fly.
Chalmers "Slick" Goodlin was the original test pilot for the second plane in the X-1 program. He made twenty-six successful flights in both of the X-1 aircraft from September 1946 until June 1947. Bell Aircraft's contract was terminated and was taken over by the United States Air Force.
On October 14, 1947, Captain Charles "Chuck" Yeager of the Air Force flew aircraft #46-062, which he had named 'Glamorous Glennis', after his wife. The rocket-powered aircraft was launched from the belly of a specially modified B-29 and glided to a landing on a runway. Aircraft #46-062 is the model currently on display in the main atrium of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, on the same side as the Spirit of St. Louis and SpaceShipOne.
See the full flight history at [url=
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_X-1_flights] Bell X-1 [/url]
