 Less than a month later, Major Chuck Yeager topped this record as he piloted the second-generation Bell X-1A to a top speed of and, just nine months later, Major Arthur "Kit" Murray flew the same airplane to a new altitude record of .These records stood for less than three years.In September 1956, Captain Iven Kincheloe became the first man to soar above , as he piloted the Bell X-2 to a then-remarkable altitude of .