Hawkins,the first man to jump out of an aeroplane with speed greater than sound

The first man to jump out of an aeroplane when traveling at a speed greater than sound was Arthur Ray Hawkins ,one of the most outstanding United States Navy pilots.Jumps of this sort had long been regarded as imposible.During an air show over Mississippi in 1954,Hawkins was flying an entirely new type of plane.At 40,000 feet the nose of the plane dipped sharply.No matter how hard he tried ,Hawkins could not pull it out of the dive and it gathered such speed that it was soon travelling faster than sound.Strapped in his seat,and hanging upside-down,the pilot could not reach the button which would destroy the top of the plane.Near him however there was another buttom which was to be used only in times of very great danger.Hawkins pressed it.There was an explosion and his seat which shielded him to some extent burst through the glass shell above his head .While still half conscious,Hawkins tried to pull the ribbon which would open his parachute .It was fortunate that he failed it his attempt,for at such a rate of speed ,the parachute would have been torn to pieces.As he sped towards the earth ,he realized that the breathing-tube which supplied him with air had also been torn away.Rapidly losing consciousness because of the lack of air,he knew that he had to open the parachute -otherwise he might not get another chance to do so.At about 29,000 feet the parachute opened and Hawkins pulled a handle which freed him from the pilot seat.While swinging through the air in slow motion, he began to tremble with cold and everything went grey : he was not getting enough air!just then ,he remembered a rule for breathing at great heights.He took short,sharp breaths and so forced air into the bloodstream.This kept him alive until at 10,000 feet,he could breathe without difficulty.Soon afterwards,he landed safely in a field of cotton.His plane crashed into a wood nearby ,but luckily no one was hurt.