B-29-96-BW serial number 45-21800 was used as the "mother" aircraft for launches of the Bell X-1 rocket-powered research aircraft. On October 14, 1947, Capt Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager was dropped in his X-1 from the B-29 and became the first human to pilot an aircraft faster than the speed of sound.
Sources:
- Boeing Aircraft Since 1916, Peter M. Bowers, Naval Institute Press, 1989.
