George Welch (pilot) - Mach 1 Claim

Mach 1 Claim

In the spring of 1944, Welch was approached by North American Aviation to become a company test pilot. With the recommendation of General Arnold, Welch resigned his commission and accepted the job. He went on to fly the prototypes of the Navy’s North American FJ-1 and later the P-86. North American originally proposed a straight wing version of the XP-86 and the Army Air Force accepted this on May 1, 1945. On November 1, North American, with the aid of captured German technology, proposed and was given permission for a major redesign of the XP-86 to a 35-degree swept-wing configuration. This was new technology and the USA’s first high-speed swept-wing airplane and a significant advance over Republic Aviation’s XP-84. Welch was chosen as Chief Test Pilot for the project.

In September 1947, the first of three XP-86 prototypes (s/n 45-59597) was moved from North American’s Mines Field (later Los Angeles International Airport) to the Muroc North Base test facility (now Edwards AFB), the same base at which the Bell X-1 was being tested. The maiden flight of the XP-86 was on October 1, 1947, flown by Welch.

After about a 30-minute flight, it was time to land and Welch lowered the flaps and gear. At this point, the nose gear refused to extend completely. Welch tried everything and 40 minutes more flight time was devoted to attempting to extend the reluctant nose landing gear. All attempts were unsuccessful and due to low fuel, he elected to land on Muroc Lake Bed without a fully extended nose gear. Upon touchdown, in a nose-high attitude, Welch cut the engine and as the XP-86 slowed the nose gear snapped down and locked. The aircraft was undamaged.

Secretary of the Air Force Stuart Symington had instructed North American that they were not, under any circumstances, to break the sound barrier before the X-1 achieved this milestone. He could exercise his authority in this regard because both the XP-86 and X-1 were Air Force programs. Welch’s only complaints about the aircraft was the J35 engine lacked power and the rate of climb was only a disappointing 4,000 ft (1,200 m) per minute. North American, however, had already contracted with General Electric for more powerful J47 engines for the production P-86As.

In his Aces Wild: The Race for Mach 1 (1998), test pilot and author Al Blackburn claimed Welch broke the sound barrier two weeks before Yeager. Blackburn bases his contention on interviews of eyewitnesses, former North American employees and access to contemporary historical accounts. The story had also circulated at the time, amongst the Muroc personnel. Robert Kempel, author of The Race For Mach 1 contradicts the claim, contending it was impossible for Welch's aircraft to break the sound barrier with an underpowered engine. Bob Hoover, chase pilot for Welch and Yeager, has also gone on record to debunk the Welch story. Kempel contends that due to the very early stage of North American’s flight test program, the aircraft was simply not ready for high-speed flight due to the limited airframe flight time and clearance. He notes that the XP-86 airframe was capable of transonic flight, but the interim low-power J35-C-3 limited its performance. The highest Mach number reached by Welch in 1947, as indicated by official flight test records, was about 0.93, in a maximum power dive from 45,114 ft (13,751 m) with the engine at 100.8-percent Military RPM (i.e. maximum power). North American conducted this test, their “High Mach Number Investigation”, on November 13. The USAF verified all North American results and this test Mach number in their own Phase II tests conducted in December 1947.

By the end of 1947, the XP-86 had logged 29 hours and 23 minutes of flight test time, most flown by Welch. On October 14, 1947, Captain Charles Yeager exceeded Mach 1 in the Bell X-1. The claim of the XP-86 passing Mach 1, with Welch at the controls, was not made until April 26, 1948. Blackburn, however, maintains that a record on the Muroc radar theodolite, of the two flights Welch made on November 13, 1947 indicated supersonic flights, as well, noting 20 minutes before the X-1 broke the record, a sonic boom was heard over the desert, centered on the Happy Bottom Riding Club, dude ranch restaurant and hotel operated by Pancho Barnes.