Sound Barrier Photos For more photos like these, go to Airliners.Net and search on Sound Barrier.

If you have ever wondered what a sonic boom was, you are in luck. The pictures below say it all. For those who don't know, a sonic boom is the bang you hear when a jet plane breaks the sound barrier. This phenomenon only happens at the instant an aircraft breaks the sound barrier. The speed of sound varies depending on air pressure. On ground it is 761 mph. At an altitude of 45,000 feet the speed of sound is 660 mph. Chuck Yeager was the first person to break the sound barrier in level flight on October 14, 1947, flying at an altitude of 45,000 ft. Here are actual photos of aircraft breaking the sound barrier.