Chuck Yeager video

1RTK1 said:
Babe Ruth once said it ain’t bragging if you can do it. I have never found him arrogant or full of himself.
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You never saw him at Oshkosh then, Yeager was giving a talk and this Mother was waiting for him to finish,she had a painting of him in the P51 and asked him Nicely to autograph it for her son who wanted to be a pilot, he ripped her a new arse and stomped off saying something under his breath not repeatable, the poor lady and just about everyone watching were stunned by the arrogance.
 
Brad Smith said:
They don't always choose the best "pilots" for the astronaut programs, they choose the ones that they can work with and tow the company line. They learned early on that exceptional skill is not needed to fly a spacecraft that you have to "wipe the monkey sh/t off the seat" before you can sit down and fly it.
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Yeager didn't a college degree of any kind. Most of the astronauts had engineering and graduate degrees besides a lot of fighter hours, many were Test pilots in the AF and Navy. Not sure about the original astronauts.
 
nauga said:
I thought he was at NACA (later NASA) before and when he flew the X-15.
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I think NACA had converted to NASA by the time the X-15 program started. It was definitely NASA when Armstrong was flying the X-15.
 
Timbeck2 said:
If you watch the video, you'll understand what Yeager meant about Armstrong not being a good pilot.
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I watched, thanks for posting. It was a great history lesson. Too bad he bad-mouthed Neil Armstrong. There's another side to the 'dry' lake bed story where they already made one successful landing and Yeager goaded Armstrong into doing a second one more near the center. Other than that, he offers no other evidence and I suspect there is none to offer. I don't think NASA would risk the success of the Apollo program on anyone but the best one they had. Who would?
 
strangebird said:
You never saw him at Oshkosh then, Yeager was giving a talk and this Mother was waiting for him to finish,she had a painting of him in the P51 and asked him Nicely to autograph it for her son who wanted to be a pilot, he ripped her a new arse and stomped off saying something under his breath not repeatable, the poor lady and just about everyone watching were stunned by the arrogance.
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Maybe Mr Yeager has mellowed and is a bit more respectful in his twilight years, My old CFI who is now a FO with Delta had him on board a flight last week and he was happy to pose for a selfie with him ...and didn't charge a fee...!!
 
I had always been a Yeager fan so my son and I made plans to attend a talk he gave at Oshkosh years ago. Bob Hoover was on right before him and we arrived a little early to catch his last 15 minutes, didn't really know much about him at the time. Bob finished and then made his way through the crowd with a few EAA volunteers to leave. He stopped for pictures, autographs and handshakes with a huge smile as he left. He wasn't swarmed, people were very respectful and he made his way through. What made it all very interesting was that as Bob Hoover was making his way on foot through the crowd, Yeager was rolling up to the stage in a chauffeured golf cart while the PA blared a pre-recorded message about not bothering him for autographs or pictures. We listened to him for 10 minutes and then left to go catch Bob's next session.

Bob Hoover would tell stories that showed he was a bada**. Yeager would tell you he is a bada** and then back it up with stories.
 
I had the opportunity to meet and talk to Bob Hoover privately a couple of times. He was nothing but a gentleman and genuine nice person both times.

First was following his Shrike routine at OSH in the late 70s when I was 16 or 17. He had moved the Shrike to a parking area adjacent to the warbirds area, which is closed during the show to non-warbird folks so few people were around. He was just sitting in the Shrike with the pilot's door open watching the aerobatic acts. I walked over and asked him to autograph my show pass (old days of cardboard tag on a string), which he did. He then started asking me questions about where I was from, was I a pilot and what did I fly. When I told him I learned in and flew a J-3, he talked about how much fun they were. We chatted for a couple more minutes before I had to leave.

Second time was several years later at Ft Worth AirFest International 1987. I had walked into the airshow pilot's briefing a bit early to get out of the heat and was sitting on a couch relaxing when Bob Hoover walked in and sat down on the couch with me, after asking if anyone else had claimed the seat. Once again, he didn't talk about himself, but asked me what I was flying at the show. I told him I was flying in three different parts of the warbird show in an L-3, BT-13 and B-25. He laughed that I was flying more than he was that day...as he was only flying a borrowed P-51 for the show. Again, he asked about me and my flying rather than talking about himself. He would answer questions I asked. You could tell he enjoyed talking airplanes, regardless with whom it might be. He was pleased to find out I was also an active duty Army officer and talked about the military in general and asked a few questions about my Army service.

While we were sitting chatting, Charlie Hillard, Gene Soucy and Tom Poberezny walked in and sat down with us on adjacent couch/chairs. Bob was gracious enough to continue to include me in the conversation when they started talking to him. THAT made an impression on me. I'd met Charlie Hillard at OSH before and he had been a nice guy as well, but Gene and Tom were a bit more distant and here was Bob Hoover talking to me and asked me a couple of questions during our group conversation. As a 24 year old nobody LT, I was pretty much in awe to even be there sitting with them, much less being included in the conversation.

I've seen Yeager and heard him speak a few times. I even have an autographed "Press On" book my sister bought when she attened a an event he was at while he husband was a USCG Air Station Commander. I do not believe there was doubt about his skills as a pilot, but he simply wasn't the people person Hoover was.

I also met Jimmy Doolittle and he was an absolute gentleman and interesting to listen to. Have several items from him he autographed over the years, including his "I Could Never Be So Lucky Again" book, a couple of prints and a program from the Thayer Award at West Point in 1983.

Pappy Boyington and Yeager both capitalized on their fame. Boyington refused me an autograph unless I bought something he was selling when I was about 15. I already had his autographed book "Baa Baa Black Sheep" my mom had bought me earlier in the year at an airshow where she was working with the 99s. Boyington did at least shake my hand, but that was about it despite there being no one else waiting to see/talk/buy from him at the time.
 
Can’t say anything about Yeager’s personality. All I know is I wouldn’t mind him next to me in the cockpit if a situation arose. He certainly has the “right stuff” even if his personality isn’t to everyone’s liking. How many of us have accomplished 1/10 of what Yeager has done in his lifetime?
 
Brad Smith said:
Can’t say anything about Yeager’s personality. All I know is I wouldn’t mind him next to me in the cockpit if a situation arose. He certainly has the “right stuff” even if his personality isn’t to everyone’s liking. How many of us have accomplished 1/10 of what Yeager has done in his lifetime?
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I don’t want to brag, but I go 1/10 of the speed of sound every time I fly. :)
 
Timbeck2 said:
Sometimes I just get tired of people.
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Me too..!!!

When New Mexico gets too crowded I'll go to Alaska until I have to come back. Been looking into leaving New Mexico and settling in Wyoming someplace less occupied.
 
While I'm only 26:42 in, great video! Thanks for sharing!
 
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