Many advances have occurred in the history of flying, Starting with the first flight of the Wright brothers to the investigation of space, and perhaps many more in the years to come. But one of the most important of these advances is the breaking of the sound barrier by one of the most prominent figures in the history of flying, by General Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager.
             Chuck Yeager, who was born in Myra West Virginia on 13 February 1923, was the son of Albert and Susie Yeager. They lived on the upper Mud River and made several moves to different areas in West Virginia. When Chuck was born he had an older brother named Roy, to which he followed around since Roy was such a big guy nobody would mess with him. A little later on he had a sister named Dorris Ann, though she died at age two from an accident due to Roy and Chuck playing with a loaded twelve gauge shot gun.
             As a child, Chuck would help his father with many of his jobs, like gas drilling and such. This work greatly benefited Chuck in the long run. Many of the valves and engines on the airplanes he would later fly were similar to the equipment his father used.
             When Chuck was around the age of twenty, he decided to enlist in the Army Air Corps to be a mechanic on airplanes. Although he greatly enjoyed being a mechanic, Chuck always felt he would like flying. After about a year as a mechanic, he was accepted for the flying sergeant program in 1942. At first, he did not have the stomach for the career, he still did not let that stop him, he quickly got over his nausea. After a year of flight training he received his pilot wings (a pin of an eagle and the right to fly aircraft), and began flying P-39's which most pilots did not like. Chuck was an exception; all he wanted to do was to fly. Most pilots had a little song about the plane that went like this: "Don't give me a P-39 with an engine behind. It will tumble and roll and dig a big hole- don't give ...