April 2015 African Pilot 89Best of the Best
Welch fl ew almost 350 sorties in three combat tours and shot down sixteen
enemy aircraft. In September 1943, Welch contracted malaria, from which
he recovered, but it brought to an end his military career.
CIVILIAN TEST PILOTIn 1944, whilst World War II continued in the Pacifi c and European regions,
Welch was contacted by North American Aviation and offered a job as a test
pilot. Soon, he was fl ying state-of-the-art jet-powered experimental fi ghters,
such as the FJ-1 Fury and XP-86. The latter was the prototype of the F-86
Sabre which would gain fame during the Korean War of the 1950s.
During the mid1940s, after World War ll had ended, the golden age of
experimental aircraft began. In 1947, Welch was assigned to test XP-86s
at Muroc Airfi eld (now Edwards Air Force Base) in California. At the same
time, the Bell X-1 was being tested in an effort to break the sound barrier for
the fi rst time in history. Apparently, North American Aviation was instructed
not to attempt to break the sound barrier before the X-1 had done so. Such
an instruction by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) made sense, as it would have
been diffi cult to justify funding the X-1, which was dedicated to breaking the
sound barrier, if a fi ghter could do the same. Still, it appears that Welch may
have exceeded the speed of sound in a dive on two occasions before Chuck
Yeager’s epic fl ight in the Bell X-1. This remains a controversial matter as
the XP-86 was not equipped with NACA (National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics) measuring equipment and Welch’s claims could not be verifi ed.
However, there was no doubt that Yeager’s X-1 broke the sound barrier in
level fl ight on 14 October 1947. Welch later repeated his high speed dives in
an XP-86, offi cially breaking the sound barrier in April 1948.When the Korean War broke out in June 1950, North American Aviation
sent Welch to South Korea to train USAF Sabre pilots. According
to reports, Welch shot down a number of North Korean MiGs whilst
‘training’ his students. However, Welch was now a civilian pilot and was
not allowed to take part in combat. Therefore, his ‘kills’ were apparently
distributed amongst his students!After working in South Korea, Welch returned to the USA as a test pilot. As
mentioned the X-1 was without doubt the fi rst aircraft to exceed the speed
of sound in level fl ight, but it was a rocket-powered aircraft. In 1953, Welch
became the fi rst Western pilot to break the sound barrier in level fl ight in
a jet-powered aircraft, whilst fl ying a prototype F-100 Super Sabre. On 12
October 1954, again whilst fl ying a F-100, his aircraft suffered a structural
failure during a 7 g manoeuvre at Mach 1.55. Welch was found in his ejection
seat and taken to hospital, but was proclaimed dead on arrival.Although he had only lived 36 years, George Welch achieved a great deal
during his fl ying career and although occasionally somewhat controversial,
he was one of the ‘best of the best.’