Aviation legend and retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager gave the F-15 Eagle one last ride Oct. 26, bringing to a close his 60-year career flying military aircraft.

He made the historic flight in front of thousands of onlookers at an open house and air show at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Yeager, with Edwards test pilot Lt. Col. Troy Fontaine in the back seat, took his Boeing-built F-15 to just over 30,000 feet, where for the final time he burst the sound barrier, creating a sonic boom for the crowd. Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier, at Edwards Air Force Base in October 1947, when he accelerated his rocketpowered Bell X-1 to the speed of Mach 1.06, shattering the myth about the impenetrability of the sound barrier by aircraft.

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Super Hornet sees first combat

The Boeing-built F/A-18E Super Hornet participated in its first combat action Nov. 6, when aircraft from the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln fired on Iraqi targets, according to the U.S. Navy.

In response to hostile acts against coalition aircraft monitoring the southern no-fly zone, Operation Southern Watch aircraft, including the Super Hornets from the Abraham Lincoln, used precision-guided weapons to target two surface-to-air missile systems and a command-and-control communications facility, the Navy said.

The surface-to-air missile systems were near Al Kut, some 100 miles southeast of Baghdad. The command-and-control facility was near Tallil, about 160 miles southeast of Baghdad.