Getting back to the "first past Mach 1" issue; whilst there is little in the nonsense about the F-84 on the first flight there seems incontrovertible evidence that it subsequently went supersonic well before the X-1.
I must have lucked in when meeting Bader (another childhood hero) as he was quite pleasant and affable; his autograph is tucked away somewhere safe, unlike the complete Beatles set which my sister has lost!
The hospitality from my many encounters with Americans has always been superb and I like to think it has always been reciprocated, but to be concerned because one elderly famous man may have a bee in his bonnet just whiles away the hours, I suppose
