RIP General Chuck Yeager, dead at 97

[berkeman]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/07/us/chuck-yeager-death/index.html

What an amazing life. I'm glad we had him all the way to 97!

 

[phinds]

Yeah, he was apparently a hell of a guy.

I'll always remember the line in "The Right Stuff" where Dennis Quaid, when asked who to best pilot was that he ever knew, said "You're looking at him!", but at first looked very wistful and said thoughtfully, "Well ... there was this one guy ... ". I think that neatly sums up how Americans viewed Yeager.

 

[mcastillo356]

He also fought against nazis. Thank you from Europe, Yeager.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I had a chance to meet Yeager once. He made a point to explain that little bump you can see on the nose of the plane. People would always ask about that and it's role in the design. It was assumed to serve some critical function. But he said that the truth is that they had forgotten to run a cable and there was no where to run it. So at the last minute they had to pound that out so they could run the cable around the frame.

 

[Klystron]

Author Tom Wolfe was right about General Yeager's affect on USAF "radio speak". The right stuff concept was a lot of guff to sell books but spoken chatter over our FM network, not to mention pilot communications, sounded like market day in Hamlin, West Virginia, .

Chuck Yeager inspired many Air Force members; rising in the ranks from sergeant to general; always with an engineer's knowledge of his aircraft and equipment. I heard through the desert grapevine that his 1975 retirement celebrations were memorable.

 

[berkeman]

Nice article about Chuck. I really enjoyed reading his autobiography many years ago.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/08/opinions/chuck-yeager-avlon/index.html

Chuck Yeager's brand of American cool -- hell, his brand of American heroism -- was based on taking your job seriously but never yourself: "Everybody that I've ever seen that enjoyed their job was very good at it," Yeager common-sensically noted. Unafraid and uncomplaining, Yeager was all about the mission; pushing the barrier past what other people think is possible.
He was competitive and individualistic without losing sight of the common good. An unpretentious belief in duty, honor and country may sound quaint, but it ain't. This is the real tough stuff, not the posturing you see from so many pretenders.

Yeager made his own rules and refused to completely surrender the stage. He broke the sound barrier again at age 74 and a few years later when a fan asked him what it was like, Yeager replied on Twitter, "It will never replace sex."

 

[waternohitter]

Nice article about Chuck. I really enjoyed reading his autobiography many years ago.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/08/opinions/chuck-yeager-avlon/index.html

Yup, It is indeed a nice autobiography.