The Right Stuff

There was a demon that lived in the air.

They said whoever challenged him

would die.

Their controls would freeze up.

Their planes would buffet wildly...

and they would disintegrate.

The demon lived at Mach 1 on the meter...

750 miles an hour...

where the air could no longer

move out of the way.

He lived behind a barrier through which

they said no man could ever pass.

They called it the sound barrier.

Then they built a small plane...

the X-1, to try and break the sound barrier.

And men came to the high desert

of California to ride it.

They were called test pilots...

and no one knew their names.

Okay, Whiskey Kilo 28, prepare to drop.

Roger, Ground Control.

This is Whiskey Kilo 28...

lowering and launching... now.

Mach.92.

.93.

.94.

Hit a mild buffet there.

Mach.95.

.96.

.97.

.98!

.99!

WK 28, do you want to declare

an emergency?

Negative. WK 28 is not...

Go away.

I was looking at the pictures on your wall.

How come a fancy pilot...

like Slick there,

doesn't have his picture up there?

What do you have to do

to get your picture up there?

You have to die, sweetie.

Well, Yeager, you old bastard.

Don't just stand in the doorway

like some lonesome sheepherder.

Get your ass over here and have a drink.

I got you something.

Come here.

You could be the first.

The man who breaks the sound barrier

will be on top.

You'd be the one they remembered.

You're the best civilian pilot around.

Good afternoon.

You get that helmet?

It might work.

I'll look like the Galloping Ghost in it.

Some people say the sound barrier

can't be broke.

An engineer will tell you it's an absolute...

like the firmness of the earth.

The sound barrier is a farm

you can buy in the sky.

The controls will freeze up.

You can't budge the stick.

Anybody tries to break it will auger in.

Well now, maybe it can't be broke.

Then again...

maybe it can.

Maybe it can only be broke

for a specified sum.

How much?

$150,000.

Come on, Slick, give us a break.

Non-negotiable, as usual.

What do we do now?

That guy in the corner...

Yeager is his name.

He's some kind of a war hero.

Shot down five Germans in one day.

He's a natural-born stick-and-rudder man.

He's press-liaison man for the Air Force,

I think.

Any problems with him?

- Only one.

- What's that?

Holding him back.

Major.

- Hey there, Yeager.

- Sir.

We were just talking to Slick

about the sound barrier.

Is that right?

We feel that the X-1

is ready to have a go at it.

We think the X-1's got the answer

to go beyond Mach 1.

If there is any beyond.

So, what do you think?

I'll tell you. Half these engineers

have never been off the ground.

They might tell you that

the sound barrier's a brick wall.

It'll rip your ears off

if you try to go through it.

If you ask me,

I don't believe the damn thing even exists.

Waitress, a drink for Mr. Yeager.

No, thanks, I got one.

So, do you think

you want to have a go at it?

I might.

But since, as you say,

this sound barrier doesn't really exist...

how much...

How much you got?

Just joking.

The Air Force is already paying me. Right?

- Why sure, Yeager...

- So when do we go?

How about tomorrow morning?

I'll be there.

See you there.

How much are you paying him?

I think it's $283.

A week?

A month.

Well, that's not bad.

First fellow to break the sound barrier...

gets a free steak with all the trimmings.

I'll have mine medium rare, please.

Honey, you ever been caught

on the desert alone?

I never have.

I don't think I ever will.

Never met the man

who could catch me out there.

I'm half jackrabbit.

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