Who is chuck yeager? (OT)

[Klaus Major]

Hi Ken,

> Hi Klaus,
>
>> Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 20:03:59 +0200
>> From: Klaus Major <klaus at major-k.de>
>> Subject: Re: Who is chuck yeager?
>
>>
>> Hi Marian,
>>
>>> Famous (and highly daring) fighter jock/test pilot... a key figure in
>>> the movie The Right Stuff.
>
> Actually, the most important achievment of Chuck Yeager, and for which 
> he is
> most well known, is that he was the _first_ pilot to break the sound
> barrier.
>
> He did it on October 14, 1947, in an experimental mission-specific
> rocket-powered aircraft called the X-1, built by Bell Aviation, which 
> was
> mounted to, and launched from, the belly of a B-29. He named it 
> "Glamorous
> Glennis II" after his wife (the first Glamorous Glennis was a P-51 
> Mustang)

Ah, yes, i remember the X-1 and the sound barrier...

But not the name Chuck Yeager... (Sorry Mark ;-)

> At the time, he was purported to have had a dislocated shoulder, but 
> he knew
> the flight surgeon would ground him, so he didn't report it, made the 
> flight
> in a lot of pain.

Oh my god! He's a hero!

> In 1990, while I was in the Civil Air Patrol, Lake Tahoe Sqdn, I met 
> him in
> person at an aerospace education conference (10,000 teachers, 
> high-ranking
> NASA, FAA, USAF personnel, and other 'living legend' historical 
> figures in
> aviation) which lasted three days in Reno, Nevada.
>
> I consider it a priviledge.
>
> Oh, and one more historical item. I think he was the only fighter 
> pilot at
> the end of WWII to shoot down the famous German jet from a 
> piston-engine
> propellered aircraft (a P-51).

Thank you for this one, very compassionate! :-D

> Ken N.

Regards

Klaus Major
klaus at major-k.de
http://www.major-k.de