According to the first pilot to exceed the speed of sound, flying ace Chuck Yeager, born on this date in 1923, “If you can walk away from a landing, it’s a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it’s an outstanding landing.”They should take him up to the ISS........................
A great American!
Great fighter pilot ace, test pilot, all around American.
Should have been in the astronaut program or at least on the shuttle flight they sent “hero” Glenn on but then despite being a fighter ace and top notch pilot, he was not a smiling pretty boy. Make no mistake, outer image was a big factor in the original selections and selecting Glenn was more a political thing than capability. Glenn was at the end of his useful physical abilities and Yeager was still a qualified jet pilot at the time.
His feats alone put him miles above many of the others and he pioneered the high altitude, high speed flight arena.
According to the first pilot to exceed the speed of sound, flying ace Chuck Yeager, born on this date in 1923, “If you can walk away from a landing, it’s a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it’s an outstanding landing.”............a National Treasure!
Happy Birthday Chuck!
I wonder who the German pilot was who shot him down. He must have been pretty good.
Godspeed Gen. Yeager and RIP Sam Shepard who portrayed him so elegantly in "The Right Stuff".
I think about Chuck Yeager every time I fly and the pilot makes an announcement with that”pilot talk” Yeager West Virginia accent.
When I don’t hear it, I’ve got to admit I get a bit nervous.
The inventor of the Right Stuff.
a good friend of mine was a Pilot in the AF and then Delta AL, he told me one time he had to fly CY and my fiend said CY was a perfect AHole and not very friendly sort of arrogant
a good friend of mine was a Pilot in the AF and then Delta AL, he told me one time he had to fly CY and my fiend said CY was a perfect AHole and not very friendly sort of arrogant
Back in the mid 90’s, at some kind of Air Force bigwig gathering at the C-17 plant in Long Beach, a lowly Planner friend of mine was walking along the back wall of the room (to get to the restroom), when Chuck Yeager gets off of the stage in the front of the room, walks clear back to the back of the room and shakes my friends hand, saying “Hi Joe, it’s been awhile”. Seems that a decade earlier, up in Palmdale, Joe often visited the same food joint in town and one day, lo and behold, Chuck Yeager came in looking for a place to sit. He asked Joe if that seat was taken. They had a good conversation. Even sat together a few times on other days. What killed me was the fact that Chuck recognized Joe over a decade later in a totally different setting. He must have an amazing memory bank in his head.
Happy Birthday to you and blessings to Glamorous Glennis.
I had the honor, and the pleasure, to spend a week hunting elk in Wyoming with the general. He was gracious and friendly.
One evening the two of us sat in the lodge and talked hunting. He also told me of some of his exploits during his long and storied career. Maybe it was the commonality we shared of hunting? Not once did he appear to be arrogant or impolite.
One of my Childhood heroes!
Happy Birthday, Chuck! :-)
Happy birthday, General Yeager.
YEARS ago, my sister was Public Information Officer at Edwards AFB, where Yeager worked for a while. She used to have a raft of autographed photos to send out to those who asked for them.
One year Yeager was gone for awhile and wasn’t around to autograph any, so when the requests came in, she winged it and copied his autograph. I think she sent out about 50 of ‘em.
The next day, to her horror, she discovered she misspelled his name, signing them “Yaeger”.
She waiting for the phones to ring off the hook from outraged recipients, but no one ever called back.
Better check yours. :-)
He outlived Sam
And my younger dad too who did similar stuff in fighters
Tactical fighter pilot and instructor for seven years 55-62
One of my favorite movies....great cast
And Barbara Hershey nailed her part and even looked like Glennis who was hot....beautiful legs
Levon Helm
I’m getting misty now..
Wonder if he has separated himself from what am recalling was/is a seriously crazy and greedy broad— who seemed to be controlling him, financially and otherwise. Made absolutely no sense. will check on this.