DIRTY HARRY Loc: Hartland, Michigan

Found on the internet.

Charles (Chuck) E. Yeager, Brig Gen, USAF (Ret)

“He has slipped the surely bounds of Earth…Put out his hand and touched the face of God.”

Paraphrasing from “High Flight” by John Gillespie Magee Jr. Pilot Officer, RCAF (09 JUN 1922 – 11 DEC 1942)

(Download)

2Dragons Loc: The Back of Beyond

Read Tom Wolfe's book, "The Right Stuff" about Yeager and it was fascinating. Definitely a man who stood a head above the average. RIP

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

I heard yesterday he died. Was it on Dec 8 or Dec 7? Sad to hear he is gone. Yes, he was one of a kind. Frankly, I did not know he was still alive. He was about 35 Days older than my dad would have been were he still alive.

HistoryLover Loc: Landenberg,Pa.

He was definitely the right stuff!! The only man to go into space and return without a heat shield. He paid dearly for it.

kpsk_sony

CHeck out his biography, it is worth your time.

sr71 Loc: In Col. Juan Seguin Land

And when did that happen?

kpsk_sony

There are two books about him besides "The Right Stuff" which is only partially about him. The other books are Yeager, an Autobiography and Press On which he co wrote.

2Dragons Loc: The Back of Beyond

Thanks for the recommendation. If I can ever get to the library again I'll be sure to check them out. They've severely curtailed the hours in our town.

ELNikkor

Skydiving at 90, what a stud!

Ruthlessrider

I was a 20 year old 2nd Lt. living in a two apartment in Fort Worth while in rotary-wing flights school system Fort Walters in Mineral Wells,TX. It was a nearly one hour drive to and from the apartment to the base, and after flying (a lot of practice at hovering 3 feet off the ground in the early day on the Brazos River flat) it seemed like torcher to get to a cold beer and a hot shower. One day, I got to the apartment and there was this old guy (remember age is relevant) standing at the rail overlooking the pool who nodded hello as I passed still in my flight suit. He asked if I was a pilot and I explained that I was. He asked what I flew, all I said was helicopters. He said he was also and when I got showered I should come over and he’d have a cold beer waiting.

When I got out of the shower and dressed, and never being one to turn down a free cold beer at the time, I went over and knocked on his door. He answered with a cold one in hand and he introduced himself. I have never been one to remember names (something I always blame on the Army, because everyone in the military wears name tags in uniform), but faces I remember. We sat and talked for a while until my newly wed wife got home. We talked about flying and he told me that he had been a pilot in WWII and had a fair amount of success in a P51, but had been shot down once over northern France. He asked me if I wanted to see the film, taken by his wingman, of him being shot down. Of course I could not deny myself that opportunity, and watched with sharp interest. He also showed me his papers that he was issued by the local marquis group to fool the Germans if he ran into them while working his way back to England. It was all very interesting and that was the only time we got together since he said he was only in town for a short time consulting with General Dynamics. I, of course, had no idea who I was talking to at the time. Chuck Yeager was not a household name in my family, and in my recollection, I think he only said his first name. It was only years late while watching a news clip of Chuck Yeager with the release of “The Right Stuff” that it finally dawned on me who I had been talking to. I have always been amazed at how humble he seemed to be since he only talked about flying and the incident of being shot down; not about how many kills he had, not about breaking the sound barrier, not about anything, really, just about flying. From a pilots perspective, he was an amazing man, and someone who did more to advance aviation than almost anyone. He was and remains an American hero.

kpsk_sony

REAL Heroes are real humble. Lucky you to run into him (while not flying!)

HistoryLover Loc: Landenberg,Pa.

Not sure of the year. Read A book about him a long awhile ago. The F1 Went so high, it crossed through the atmosphere a very short time. I believe I recall him saying everything went black. Which says he was outside our atmosphere. He was burned severely and went thru very painful recovery.

rick_n_wv Loc: Charleston WV

I live in Charleston WV where he grew up. There is an annual regatta and one year he was in town during the regatta. He flew a plane under the bridge. They still talk about it.

sr71 Loc: In Col. Juan Seguin Land

Ah! That was a version of the f104 Starfighter he was flying/testing, he got it into a flat spin and no matter what he tried couldn't get out of it, so he had to bail out. As he was separating from his ejection set his harness got tangled with the seat causing him to get badly burned by the rocket motor, very lucky to have survived.

sr71 Loc: In Col. Juan Seguin Land

Cool beans.....!!!!