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Posted on 01/27/2008 4:59:57 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska
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Evening, Ma!!
IN!
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X-15.
Top ten?
PACIFIC OCEAN (Jan. 26, 2008) Sailors aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Momsen (DDG 92) secure refueling lines during a refueling at sea between Momsen and the Military Sealift Command Auxiliary Oiler USNS Guadalupe (T-AO 200). Ships and aircraft assigned to Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 9 are underway off the coast of Southern California participating in a Joint Task Force Exercise. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James R. Evans (Released)
PACIFIC OCEAN (Jan. 26, 2008) Sonar Technician (Surface) 1st Class Mark Osborne supervises Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class Randy Loewen, right, and Sonar Technician (Surface) 3rd Class Roland Stout, left, as they monitor contacts on an AN/SQQ-89V15 Surface Anti Submarine Combat System, aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Momsen (DDG 92). Ships and aircraft assigned to Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 9 are underway off the coast of Southern California participating in a Joint Task Force Exercise. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James R. Evans (Released)">
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (Jan. 25, 2008) Capt. Kevin O'Flaherty, commanding officer of Precommissioning Unit (PCU) George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), presents former President George H.W. Bush with a yellow shooter's jersey after the launch of two "dead loads" off the flight deck of the carrier which bears the his name. The ship is under construction at Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard. U.S. Navy photo By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Susan Caraballo (Released)
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Wow, amazing stories about an amazing man.
One of my NRA buddies was talking yesterday about missing out on a visit with Gen. Yeager soon in California. I think he’s planning to attend the SHOT Show in Vegas, and will miss his window of opportunity to squeeze in the visit.
Chuck Yeager Biography
First Man to Break the Sound Barrier
Chuck Yeager Date of birth: February 13, 1923
Chuck Yeager is unquestionably the most famous test pilot of all time. He won a permanent place in the history of aviation as the first pilot ever to fly faster than the speed of sound, but that is only one of the remarkable feats this pilot performed in service to his country.
Charles Elwood Yeager was born in 1923 in Myra, West Virginia and grew up in the nearby village of Hamlin. Immediately upon graduation from high school he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps to serve in World War II.
Shot down over enemy territory only one day after his first kill in 1943, Yeager evaded capture, and with the aid of the French resistance, made his way across the Pyrenees to neutral Spain. Although army policy prohibited his return to combat flight, Yeager personally appealed to General Dwight D. Eisenhower and was allowed to fly combat missions again. In all, he flew 64 combat missions in World War II. On one occasion he shot down a German jet from a prop plane. By war’s end he had downed 13 enemy aircraft, five in a single day.
After the war, Yeager continued to serve the newly constituted United States Air Force as a flight instructor and test pilot. In 1947, he was assigned to test the rocket-powered X-1 fighter plane. At the time, no one knew if a fixed-wing aircraft could fly faster than sound, or if a human pilot could survive the experience. Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, only days after cracking several ribs in a horseback riding accident. In 1952, he set a new air speed record of 1650 mph, more than twice the speed of sound. He flew test flights in Korea, and commanded a fighter squadron in Europe.
After the onset of the space race in 1956, Yeager commanded the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilots School to train pilots for the space program. In this capacity, Yeager supervised development of the space simulator and the introduction of advanced computers to Air Force pilots. Although Yeager himself was passed over for service in space, nearly half of the astronauts who served in the Gemini, Mercury and Apollo programs were graduates of Yeager’s school.
In 1963, Yeager was flying the experimental Lockheed Starfighter at over twice the speed of sound when the engine shut off and he was forced to abandon the spinning aircraft. Yeager’s compression suit was set on fire by the burning debris from the ejector seat, which became entangled in his parachute. He survived the fall, but required extensive skin grafts for his burns.
The Air Force space school was closed in 1966, as NASA took over the training of astronauts. During the Vietnam War, Yeager — now a full colonel — commanded the 405th fighter wing out of the Philippines, flying 127 air-support missions, and training bomber pilots.
In 1968, Yeager was promoted to brigadier general. He is one of a very few who have risen from enlisted man to general in the Air Force. In 1970, General Yeager served as U.S. Defense Representative to Pakistan and supervised Pakistan’s air defense in its war with India. He retired from the Air Force in 1975, but continued to serve as a consulting test pilot for many years.
In 1976, Chuck Yeager was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, presented to him by President Gerald Ford. President Ronald Reagan later honored him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. These are the highest honors the nation bestows for outstanding service or achievement. General Yeager’s other decorations include the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star with V device, the Air Force Commendation medal, the Silver Star with oak leaf cluster, the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross with two clusters, and the Air Medal with ten clusters. His civilian awards include the Harmon International Trophy (1954) and the Collier and Mackay Trophies (1948). He was the first and the youngest military pilot to be inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame (1973).
A bestselling nonfiction book, The Right Stuff (1979) by Tom Wolfe, and the popular film of the same title (1983), made Yeager’s name a household word among Americans too young to remember Yeager’s exploits of the 1950s. Yeager’s autobiography enjoyed phenomenal success and he remains much in demand on the lecture circuit and as a corporate spokesman. Chuck Yeager made his last flight as a military consultant on October 14, 1997, the 50th anniversary of his history-making flight in the X-1. He observed the occasion by once again breaking the sound barrier, this time in an F-15 fighter.
Thank you, Ma!
*HUG*
Thanks, Sonora, for the perfect woohoo.
January 28, 2008
READ: Ephesians 6:10-18
We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against . . . spiritual hosts of wickedness. —Ephesians 6:12
Last January, the police officers in Tijuana, Mexico, had their guns confiscated. It was suspected that some of them had been in collusion with drug traffickers. At first, fearing for their safety, the police stopped patrolling. But eventually, some of them returned to work—carrying slingshots. Three weeks passed before their more effective weapons were returned to them.
Although we all remember a shepherd boy who used a sling and a single smooth stone with great success in his encounter with a giant (1 Sam. 17), few of us would have the courage to face violent threats armed with such puny protection. But every day, although we are often ill-prepared, we do face a threat. As believers, we fight against an enemy we cannot see. Our struggle is not “against flesh and blood, but against . . . spiritual hosts of wickedness” (Eph. 6:12). The outcome of this battle is sure, however. Jesus is the Victor. And using the armor and weapons He supplies, we are able “to stand” (v.13). We fight in His power and strength.
Each day we must put on the armor of God—the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit, God’s Word (vv.13-17). Preparation and protection are the key to winning spiritual battles.
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couldn't tell anyone. He celebrated with just a few other pilots at Pancho's. He flew a dozen more transonic flights in the X-1, but still under tight wraps. His accomplishment wasn't announced to the public until mid-1948. The 
X-1A
feet before he was able to recover it to level flight. Even his rival, Scott Crossfield, has since conceded that it was "probably fortunate" that Yeager was the pilot on that flight "so we had the airplane to fly another day." Later in 1953, Kit Murray flew the X-1A up to a new record height, 90,440 feet. Only one model of the Bell X-1A existed; it was destroyed in July, 1955 
Westinghouse proposed J46 turbojet engines grew too large for the X-3. To get the plane airborne, a pair of J34's were installed, but could never power the plane as intended for sustained supersonic flight test. The X-3 could only exceed Mach 1 in a steep dive. Yeager flew the X-3. 
Force, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and then, in January 1971, he was assigned as U.S. defense representative to Pakistan. On June 1, 1973, he commenced his final active duty assignment as director of the AF Safety and Inspection Center at Norton Air Force Base, Calif. After a 34-year military career, he retired on March 1, 1975. At the time of his retirement, he had flown more than 10,000 hours in more than 330 different types and models of aircraft. In 1986, Yeager was appointed to the Presidential Commission investigating the Challenger accident. 
