“Forgotten Hollywood”- Righteous Stuff…
Manny P. here… 
“`Retired Air Force Brigadier General Charles Yeager was a World War II fighter pilot ace and a quintessential test pilot. In 1947, he became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound. His achievement was documented in The Right Stuff, the 1983 grand historical drama that was adapted from Tom Wolfe’s best-selling novel about the Navy, Marine, and Air Force test pilots (including Yeager) who were involved in aeronautical research at Edwards Air Force Base and later, about the seven military pilots chosen to be astronauts for Project Mercury.
“`Yeager enlisted in the Army Air Corps after he graduated from high school in 1941. He later regretted that his lack of a college education prevented him from becoming an astronaut. He started off as an aircraft mechanic and, despite becoming airsick during his first airplane ride, signed up for the program that allowed enlisted men to become pilots. He shot down thirteen German planes on sixty-four missions during World War II, including five on a single mission.
“`After his service, he became a test pilot at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Among the flights he made after breaking the sound barrier was one on December 12, 1953 when he flew an X-1A to a record of more than sixteen hundred miles-per-hour. Chuck also commanded Air Force fighter squadrons and wings and the Aerospace Research Pilot School for military astronauts.
“`Yeager was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star, the Air Medal, and the Purple Heart. President Harry S. Truman awarded him the Collier air trophy in December 1948 for his breaking the sound barrier. He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985. West Virginia named bridges, schools and Charleston’s airport after him.
“`Yeager retired from the Air Force in 1975 after he flew missions in Vietnam, and moved to a ranch in Cedar Ridge in Northern California where he continued working as a consultant to the Air Force and Northrop Corp., and became well known to younger generations as a television pitchman for automotive parts and heat pumps.
“`An aeronautic icon who surely stands tall with Orville and Wilbur Wright, Charles Lindbergh, and Amelia Earhart, Chuck Yeager (above right) was ninety-seven.
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2020 at 8:02 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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