Folks Of Interest Chuck Yeager Drove A Hot Rod

The way to really appreciate how special he was is to read his autobiography. My favorite part was the day he and his wingman got separated from their wing on a mission and spend the day shooting down German's and flying around Europe before returning to their airfield while the rest of the wing thought they got shot down.

 

Made me Prouder, I drive the same car as Chuck Yeager!

 

It should be remembered, that Chuck was the first pilot that willingly and successfully, exceeded the speed of sound. There were others that died by unknowingly putting themselves in this situation and not able to recover, and others in an intentional attempt at breaking the barrier.
The reason for Chucks ultimate success, was that in the testing while working up to the sound barrier, the control problems in the transonic region forced the engineers came up with the idea of combining the horizontal stabilizer and the elevators into a single flying tail. This solved the problem of control reversal in the transonic region. There were other fixes, but this was the key, and so important that the USAF wanted to keep the flying tail a secret for as long as possible. If you look at any supersonic capable fighter today, you will see the one piece tail is common to all of them.
Test flying in those days, was a dangerous occupation. There were a lot of fatalities and a lot of close calls, because the test pilots priority was to save the aircraft so they could learn from the incident of the day. Just the idea of a pilot intentionally pitching up a F-104 or a F-101 to determine a recovery procedure, should give you an idea of what those test pilots were doing on a daily basis.
It took a lot of courage for him to be willing to continue with the program, after he lost control of the aircraft in a previous flight because of control reversal in the transonic region.
Chuck got the opportunity to make the attempt, because the civilian test pilot that was scheduled to make the attempt demanded an exorbitant sum of money to make the flight. The powers in charge, made the decision that why should they pay someone a bag of money, when they can use a military pilot that would be happy to take the risk.
As for the right stuff, I didn't know a single room where the egos of the fighter pilots didn't bulge out the walls. You should have seen Friday night beer call in the Nellis AFB Officers Club ( or any other fighter base) in the late 60s and early 70s.
My hat is off to Chuck and all the other pilots that put their life on the line to make fighters safer for the generations of fighter pilots that followed.

Bob

 

General Yeager was the dinner speaker at a national Trout Unlimited convention in Bellevue Washington back in the 70's. I was an officer of TU and attended this gala of course.
He related the following story:
On October 12, 1944, he became the first pilot in his group to make "ace in a day," downing five enemy aircraft in a single mission. (Only 68 U.S. pilots Becoming an ace in a day during WW II according to Wikipedia )
Two of these kills were scored without firing a single shot: when he flew into firing position against a Messerschmitt Bf 109, the pilot of the aircraft panicked, breaking right and colliding with his wingman. Yeager said both pilots bailed out. He finished the war with 11.5 official victories, including one of the first air-to-air victories over a jet fighter, a German Messerschmitt Me 262 jet that he shot down as it was on final approach for landing.
This man was to me, a true American Hero in every sense of the word.

RIP General, you more than earned it. I am very hearing of this.

 

@jnaki already posted the story ... but I'll add this circa 1958 photo of the Bakersfield (& Edwards) Model A Club members at Edwards AFB:

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An amazing man. I have known quite a few modern B1 Bomber pilots here at EAFB, badasses in their own way. And yes, the pilot thing rings true no matter what bird they fly.

 

One of my prized possessions is a copy of his autobiography signed by Chuck and Glennis. An amazing man and an inspiration.

 

Here's a picture from the Edwards Air force base model a club.

 

The General was a great man. Also his friend Bob Hoover. May they rest in peace. Lippy

 

I was at the 1986 Indy 500. When they announced Chuck Yeager was driving the pace care my, girl friend ask who is he.\? I said I think he is qualified. After I told her of some of his accomplishments, she sad do you think they can keep up with him.

 

Whats left of the “Happy Bottom Riding Club” Chuck used to frequent during the X-1 period. It burned down shortly thereafter under suspicious circumstances.



This pool at the club was one that he helped build.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

RA Bob Hoover was flying the chase plane during the X1 program.

 

I believe that was Poncho Barnes watering hole.
She was also a successful pilot in the 20s/30s. She competed in the powder puff cross country derby races.
The history here is really impressive.

 

I suggest reading the book, "The Right Stuff," by James Mitchner. It delves into the
early efforts of space flight. Pilots like Yeager and others as well
were essential in the development of ultra high speed, high
altitude flight that let to the space program. It also goes into
substantial detail of Chuck Yeagers career. An excellent
read in my opinion.

 

'The Right Stuff' was written by Tom Wolfe.
Yes, it's a great read. The movie is also worth watching,

 

I have to admit that I did not recognized Gen. Yeager when I and another Army pilot meet him and his small group of people at the Dulles Airport. Both, my buddy and I were in our dress greens sitting across from Gen. Yeager and his crew, who were dress in suits and ties. One of Yeager's men asked us what type of aircraft we flew and we all started into a conversation about the various military aircraft. At one point in time, I remember seeing the person in front (Gen. Yeager) of me as the same person who did the auto battery commercials on TV and I said, "say are you the guy that does the battery commercials on TV? he look at me and said, "I know you Army types practice going up and down all day long, while us Air Force types practice going from point A to point B as fast as we can and you are correct about me and being on TV and they all started laughing. Well they call for First Class boarding and one of his men said, "I think it is time we board the aircraft, sir". After we settle in for the flight and after my buddy got over what I had said to the General, two drinks were drop off with a note that read, "don't look down, we are at 35K. When we reach our detestation the General was there at the round-about, shook out hands and told us we are doing a fine job.

 

A hard act to follow like so many from his era.

 

.. when visiting family, I frequently .. fly into Chuck Yeager Airport, on a Kanawha County mountaintop near Charleston, West Virginia .. .. "by God".

God speed, General.

 

As some of you may know, I am a retired "ALASKA BUSH PILOT" and have been flying in AK since 64. (17000 HOURS) One of the many, many celebs I had the honor of flying around AK was GEN YEAGER. We have over 50 hours flying together in Float equipped Beavers and can't even count the number of fish we caught together. When he arrived at the High End fishing lodges I flew for, he would always grab me to fly with due to the extensive training he knew I had received as a Dual Rated Master Aviator in the Army. Had many great conversations about flight in these many hours. When he retired, he sent me an autographed copy of his book and retirement photo. They hold a SPECIAL place in my life!! REST IN PEACE SIR GODSPEED !!!!! MISS YA!!!

 

As the son of a fighter pilot from Yeager’s era, I gobbled up my dad’s own crazy flying stories, read and re-read Yeager’s books, attended one of Yeager’s lectures, saw him fly supersonic at an air show, and did more than my share of crazy things in the air and on the ground - on one, two, three and four wheels!

My one regret was politely holding my tongue years ago at a dinner where I met a former Air Force pilot who flew with, and openly despised, Yeager.

I couldn’t have changed his mind, and I even agreed with him on some points. But if ever there was a baby that did not deserve to be tossed with the bath water, it was Yeager.

Blue Skies, Yeager.

 

I stand corrected. Wolfe not Michner. Sorry.
I did enjoy the read.

 

There are many others, but Bob Hoover was also a very cool Dude! He made doing an engines out loop to a landing in a Aero Commander Shrike, look as easy as a pilot flying a routine landing in a Cessna 172.
Bob

 

In 1947 chuck was 23, I was still trying to figure out Geometry at that age.

 

In the early 60s, when I started my air force pilot training, we started on jet trainers, were well informed on the theory of high altitude flight, and practised flight at high altitude flying at the limiting mach number, in the transonic region in straight wing aircraft.
We learned about, and safely practised manoeuvres, recovering from such effects as, stiffening of the controls, control reversal, and Mach tuck, based on the experiences of pilots like Chuck Yeager and the other test pilots of the era. Their willingness to put their lives on the line, made flying at the edge of envelope, a safe and routine exercise, and probably saved a lot of lives.
When the pilots of Chuck's and Bob's era were flying these aircraft at their limits, they were the ones writing the rules of surviving at the limits of aircraft performance.
While in the air force, I flew several supersonic capable aircraft, and got to go fast pretty much whenever I wanted, but there was always the risk of having to eject at high Mach because other factors, such as a bird strike while flying on the deck, or risking having our blood boil, if there was a pressurization failure flying above 50,000 ft without a pressure suit.
If a pilot punched out at high speed, there were going to be injuries such as broken bones, and an episode like that also had the real possibility of being fatal. But, damn, it was fun, and they even paid me!!!
Bob