George Welch ( pilot ) George Welch ( May 10 , 1918 – October 12 , 1954 ) was a World War II flying ace , a Medal of Honor nominee , and an experimental aircraft pilot after the war . Welch is best known for being one of the few United States Army Air Corps fighter pilot s able to get airborne to engage Japanese forces in the attack on Pearl Harbor and for his work as a test pilot . Welch retired from the United States Air Force as a major in 1944 , and became a test pilot for North American Aviation , receiving some notoriety for reportedly being the first pilot to exceed Mach 1 in the prototype XP - 86 Sabre ( two weeks before Chuck Yeager ' s record flight ) . Controversy exists as to the actual details of the flight and if this flight took place , it is generally not recognized as a record because of a lack of verifiable speed measurement and because the aircraft ' s highest speeds were attained while diving , whereas Yeager ' s X - 1 completed the feat in level flight . In 1954 , Welch died following a crash in a test flight in a North American F - 100 Super Sabre . Early life . George Welch was born George Lewis Schwartz , but his parents changed his name to avoid the anti - German sentiment surrounding World War I . His father was a senior research chemist for Dupont Experimental Test Station at Wilmington , Delaware . He attended St . Andrew ' s School ( 1936 ) . He completed three years of a mechanical engineering degree from Purdue University , before joining the Army Air Corps in 1939 . While attending Purdue , he was initiated as a brother of Delta Upsilon . USAAC flight training schools that he attended included : Brooks , Kelley and Randolph Fields , San Antonio , Texas as well as Hamilton Field , Novato , California . World War II . After receiving his wings and commission in January 1941 , Welch was posted to the 47th Pursuit Squadron , 15th Pursuit Group , at Wheeler Field , Oahu , Hawaii in February 1941 . At dawn on December 7 , 1941 , 2nd Lt . Welch and another pilot , 2nd Lt . Ken Taylor , were coming back from a Christmas dinner and dance party ( with big band orchestra ) at a rooftop hotel in Waikiki , that ended in an all - night poker game . They were still wearing mess dress when the Japan ese attacked Pearl Harbor . Welch telephoned an auxiliary Haleiwa Fighter Strip on Oahu ' s North Shore to have two Curtiss P - 40B Tomahawk fighters prepared for takeoff . He and Taylor immediately drove his Buick at high speed to Haleiwa in order to join the air battle . Taking off with only 30 cal ammo in the wing guns , Welch claimed two kills of Aichi D3A Val dive bomber s over Ewa Mooring Mast Field . The first enemy aircraft was only damaged and it made it back to its carrier while the second was finished off by Ken Taylor , shortly before he landed at Wheeler Field to get 50 cal ammo for his two cowl guns . On his second sortie , Welch shot down a Val ( which was behind Ken Taylor ) and the Val crashed in the community of Wahiawa , then Welch got one Mitsubishi Zero fighter about five miles west of Barbers Point . Both Welch and Taylor were nominated for the Medal of Honor by Gen . Henry H . Arnold , but were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross , the highest USAAF medal , for their actions . After Pearl Harbor , Welch returned to the continental U . S . to give war bond speeches until being assigned to the 36th Fighter Squadron of the 8th Fighter Group in New Guinea . Despite his aerial victories on December 7 , 1941 , Welch was dissatisfied with flying the poorly performing Bell P - 39 Airacobra . When asked by a journalist what aspect of the P - 39 he liked , then seven - victory ace George Welch said , " Well , it ' s got 12 hundred pounds of Allison armor plate . " When Welch inquired as to when his squadron ( the 36th FS ) would receive P - 38s , he was told , " When we run out of P - 39s . " He repeatedly appealed to be assigned to the 80th Fighter Squadron ( which flew the Lockheed P - 38 Lightning ) until he was granted a transfer . Between June 21 and September 2 , 1943 , flying a P - 38H , Welch shot down nine more Japanese aircraft : two Zeros , three Ki - 61 Tonys , three Ki - 43 Oscars and one Dinah . Welch flew three combat tours ( a total of 348 combat missions with 16 confirmed victories , all achieved in multiples ) before malaria retired him from the war . 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 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 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 . Later career . Welch went on to work as Chief Test Pilot , engineer and instructor with North American Aviation during the Korean War where he reportedly downed several enemy MiG - 15 " Fagots " while " supervising " his students . However , Welch ' s kills were in disobedience 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 with Yeager flying the chase plane . Welch became the first man to break the sound barrier in level flight with this type of aircraft on May 25 , 1953 . However , stability problems were encountered in the flight test program , and on Columbus Day , October 12 , 1954 , Welch ' s F - 100A - 1 - NA Super Sabre , " 52 - 5764 " , disintegrated during a 7g pullout at Mach 1 . 55 . When found , Welch was still in the ejection seat , critically injured , and was aided by NAA test Navion pilots Robert " Bob " Baker and Bud Pogue . Welch was evacuated by helicopter , but was pronounced dead on arrival at the Army hospital . He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery . Welch was portrayed by Rick Cooper in the 1970 film " Tora ! Tora ! Tora ! " .