George Welch

George Schwartz Welch (May 18, 1918 – October 12, 1954) was a World War II flying ace, a Medal of Honor nominee, and an experimental aircraft pilot after the war. Many people contest that Welch verifiably broke the sound barrier one week before Chuck Yeager in his prototype P-86 Sabre.

Later Career

Welch went on to serve with the army again in the Korean War as an instructor where he reportedly downed several enemy aircraft while "supervising" his students. However, Welch's kills were in disobeyance of direct orders for him to not engage, and credits for the kills were thus distributed among his students. After the war, Welch returned to flight testing — this time in the F-100 Super Sabre, an upgraded version of the F-86. Welch became the first man to break the sound barrier in level flight with this aircraft on May 25, 1953. However, stability problems with the aircraft arose and on October 12, 1954, Welch's YF-100 disintegrated during a 7g pullout at Mach 1.55. Welch ejected, but the supersonic ejection severely injured him and tore several panels out of his parachute. Though Welch was alive when rescuers found him on the ground, he died shortly thereafter in hospital.

Related Topics:
Korean War - F-100 Super Sabre - May 25 - 1953 - October 12 - 1954

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