Chuck Yeager Flies West.

ktup-flyer

ktup-flyer

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Can 2020 get any worse? Can’t leave a bigger impact on aviation than he did. RIP
 
Well damn.
 
Latest news said Chuck Yeager passed away today. 97 years on this Earth, much of them flying some of the fastest flying machines in existence.
 
Hoover, Poberezny, Mullendore, and now Yeager. It seems that all of the aviation heroes of my youth have now passed.
 
I can recommend this book on Chuck Yeager. "Chasing the Demon" . Excellent read.

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/chasing-the-demon-dan-hampton?variant=32130065268770


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ktup-flyer said:
Can’t leave a bigger impact on aviation than he did. RIP
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I can think of a few starting with the Wright Brothers, Hans von Ohain and Sir Frank Whittle, Charles Lindbergh, R J Mitchell and Kelly Johnson.

I met Gen Yeager a couple of times. Interesting guy. May he Rest in Peace.

Cheers
 
FlyingElvii said:
Hoover, Poberezny, Mullendore, and now Yeager. It seems that all of the aviation heroes of my youth have now passed.
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I’ll personally add Loudenslager to that list.

Chuck’s book Yeager is a great read for any of you that might have missed it.
 
I took a photo of the P-51 Glamorous Glen III one day and got his attention. I was at the airport hanging out with friends when I got the first message from him. I was like a little kid, saying "It's Chuck Yeager messaging me!" and showing everyone. I ended up having a few nice phone conversations with him and sending him photos. I'm still amazed 4 years later.

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Lowflynjack said:
I took a photo of the P-51 Glamorous Glen III one day and got his attention. I was at the airport hanging out with friends when I got the first message from him. I was like a little kid, saying "It's Chuck Yeager messaging me!" and showing everyone. I ended up having a few nice phone conversations with him and sending him photos. I'm still amazed 4 years later.

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The frustrating part about that is because the reason why that plane doesn’t have the actual name is because they got threatened legally for having the name without a license or something like that.

I’d add Gen Doolittle to the list. Every flight in IFR owes him and flying blind on instruments is every bit as big as breaking the sound barrier.

Respect to Yeager’s memory and accomplishments.
 
Jack Rousch's Mustang, but Yeager was there when I took the picture.
Stallion51 circa 1996

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RyanShort1 said:
The frustrating part about that is because the reason why that plane doesn’t have the actual name is because they got threatened legally for having the name without a license or something like that.
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Yeager's second marriage led to a bitter feud, and aggressive protection of the Yeager "brand."

This eventually led to the EAA Forum page autocorrecting "Chuck Yeager" to "A Famous Test Pilot." Not sure if it's still in place.

Ron Wanttaja
 
wanttaja said:
Yeager's second marriage led to a bitter feud, and aggressive protection of the Yeager "brand."

This eventually led to the EAA Forum page autocorrecting "Chuck Yeager" to "A Famous Test Pilot." Not sure if it's still in place.

Ron Wanttaja
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Yep, her name was Victoria. She was very difficult to deal with.
 
GaryM said:
I'm very sorry to hear this. I don't know if the appropriate response is a moment of silence, or a thunderous sonic boom. Probably the latter.
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Now that would be a missing man formation. They’re doing the fly by and one of them lights off the burners and goes boom
 
Surprisingly, he was one of my favorite Twitter accounts to follow. My favorite quote from that medium:
Q: Sir, any advice for me as I'm about to head off to Navy Flight School in hopes of accomplishing goals similar to yours?
A: Know your systems,esp egress,better than guys who built them.Think what can go wrong & fix it ahead of time.​
Godspeed.
 
wanttaja said:
This eventually led to the EAA Forum page autocorrecting "Chuck Yeager" to "A Famous Test Pilot." Not sure if it's still in place.
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And...someone tried to post a notice to the EAA Forum, and the autocorrect tripped him up. So it's still active.

About twenty years ago, our corporate security officer told me he'd joined the Air Force as an Air Policeman in the '50s, and got assigned to Yeager's base. One day he was given an assignment: Sneak onto the flight line at night and plant fake bombs on the aircraft.

He managed to do it. Next day he was called into Colonel Yeager's office. Said Yeager had grinned at him, gave him a thumbs-up, and said "Great Job!"

What was said to the officers in charge of security was not recorded.....

Ron Wanttaja
 
One of my uncles lived a few houses down from him in Grass Valley and didn't know who he was... I mentioned him in conversation once and my uncle said "You mean that crazy Chuck guy from down the street?" I wonder how someone could have lived in the '50s and not know who Chuck Yeager was.

I met his youngest daughter once, before all the legal fighting. She seemed like a normal person... :D
 
I'd add John Boyd and Werner Mölders to the list of of people I hold in higher esteem as far as influencing the flying I dabble in. And I don't say that flippantly, given one of them was a Nazi :D

Never was a Yeager fan. All that said, the man served honorably and for that I got nothing but utmost respect. RIP.
 
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Well said. If you’re a combat aviator, most of what you learn, besides the knob twisting and button pushing was developed by those two aviators. I would add Robin Olds to that duo as one the greatest combat leaders.

Cheers


ETA. Understand your opinion on Gen Yeager. As I noted, an “interesting guy”.
 
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