We do air traffic systems where I work and the conference rooms are named after famous pilots with Yeager being one. The room is decorated with his picture and a signed photograph of the X-1.
This man was one of those who was a true contributor to the betterment of the USA. I think he said that, before he starting flying, he was afraid of heights. One of the greats.
The first time he flew he got violently air sick. Didn’t stop him from shooting down 5 enemy planes in one day though.
I think i mentioned this years ago on here but I met Chuck Yeager with Dad when he was hand signing a massive pile of wooden model X-1's. The warehouse next to our sold these cool mail order wood models. My dad and our employees were outside shooting the shit when Chuck and his wife pulled up in their car. My Dad was a extremely stoic individual but he went into total fanboy mode. My grandfather worked for Curtiss and flew with Lindbergh, my dad was Airforce and a Pratt and Whitney guy so they held those early air cowboys in the highest regards. My Dad fawned over him that day and Chuck was just a miserable, grumpy Ole bastard. My dad tried to talk to him and Chuck wasn't having it. His wife was super pleasant though. We can't fathom the intelligence mixed with fearless brass balled bravado that it takes to do what he did. Godspeed.
Godspeed to him and the rest of the Skunk-works crew that pushed physics, material sciences, human endurance and imagination to the edge. Fly on!
None of these people hiding behind their face diapers are worth the sweat off his balls. Our country hasn't produced great people like this in a long time.
Sure we have, go read some of the recent Medal Of Honor citations. Kyle Carpenter andClint Romesha come to mind.
I grew up on Chuck Yeager Air Combat (video game). Instrumental in my childhood, joined the forces at 16. I do not have heros but he'd be close.
It might be pretty gruesome. There was a year when 60 test pilots were killed at Edwards. It might have been 64, I can’t remember. That, and who knows how many jets were classed. All in one year. Many were due to the fact that guys didn’t know when to get out, or rather, couldn’t let go just to save the jet. I think Yeager jumped out of four or five airplanes.
https://freshairarchive.org/segments/general-chuck-yeager An audio interview from I think 1988. I read his autobiography when I was in 6th grade, just blew my mind. Guy was just a different breed. I highly doubt a Yeager movie would be worth a damn just because Hollywood can’t help putting some woke bullshit in there. Yeager definitely was not a PC guy and neither were his contemporaries.
Needs to be way more than just the Edwards days. The whole WWII aspect with being shot down and escaping to Spain from France, the civilian strafing mission he hated etc.
This was my experience as well. I’ve found the axiom “don’t meet your heroes” to generally be true. Except when I met Anthony Gobert. He was hilarious.
There’s not a single fighter pilot that I’d want to fly with that doesn’t say things that are totally unappropriate, has an awesome sense of gallows humor, and speaks of past mishaps in a clam, matter-of-fact manner. It’s all part of the right stuff formula.
