john derry was the first british pilot to break the sound barrier.
who was the first british pilot to break the sound barrier?
john derry
bullet::::- 18 august – jockey lester piggott, aged 12, wins his first race, at haydock park racecourse.









































bullet::::- september









































bullet::::- the first new comprehensive schools open in potters bar and hillingdon.









































bullet::::- judicial corporal punishment (birching and flogging) is abolished in the uk.









































bullet::::- 6 september – flying the de havilland dh 108, john derry becomes the first british pilot to break the sound barrier.









































bullet::::- 8 september – terence rattigan's play "the browning version" premieres in london.









































bullet::::- october – the hoover company open a new factory for the mass production of washing machines at merthyr tydfil.
1948 in the united kingdom
contrary to what is depicted in the film, the first aircraft to break the sound barrier was the rocket-powered bell x-1 flown by chuck yeager of the united states air force in 1947. as yeager, who was present at the us premiere, described in his first biography, "the sound barrier" was entertaining, but not that realistic – and any pilot who attempted to break the sound barrier in the manner portrayed in the film (forcing the centre stick forward to pull out of a dive) would have been killed. because the 1947 bell x-1 flight had not been widely publicised, many who saw "the sound barrier" thought it was a true story, and that the first supersonic flight was made by a british pilot.
the sound barrier