Chuck Yeager

Charles Elwood Yeager(aka: Chuck Yeager, ✦February 13, 1923 – †December 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight.

Yeager's career began in World War II as a private in the United States Army Air Forces in 1941. After serving as an aircraft mechanic, in September 1942, he entered enlisted pilot training and, upon graduation, was promoted to the rank of flight officer (the World War II USAAF equivalent to warrant officer), later achieving most of his aerial victories as a P-51 fighter pilot on the Western Front, where he was credited with shooting down 11.5 enemy aircraft (the half credit is from a second pilot assisting him in a single shootdown).

After the war, Yeager became a test pilot of many aircraft types, including experimental rocket-powered aircraft. As such, he became the first human to officially break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, when he flew the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 feet (13,700 m), for which he won both the Collier and Mackay trophies in 1948. He then went on to break several other speed and altitude records.

Yeager later commanded fighter squadrons and wings in Germany, as well as in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. In recognition of the outstanding performance ratings of those units, he was promoted to brigadier general in 1969, retiring on March 1, 1975. Yeager's three-war active-duty flying career spanned more than 30 years and took him to many parts of the world, including the Soviet Union, during the height of the Cold War.

Wikipedia article: Chuck Yeager

Palmdale Nexus

A Personal Note from Robin The movie The Right Stuff is about the test pilots and astronauts who lived, worked and flew from Edwards Air Force Base and Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. Many of the people portrayed in this movie were people that I grew up with. I went to high school and spent time with their children. Many of the people working at Palmdale and Edwards spent off hours time at Pancho Barnes's "Happy Bottom Riding Club" and at Two Shay Ranch in Bouquet Canyon. Edwards AFB was named after Glen Edwards, a pilot killed in 1948 piloting a Northrop YB-49 Flying wing. Near the end of the movie the Astronauts are moved to Texas and are welcomed with a party, "Texas style". Part of the entertainment was a dance by Sally Rand doing her famous "fan dance". During the dance, there are several cut-away scenes of Chuck Yeager's crash at Edwards Air Force Base.

	Note to readers: This article is part of "Robin's Personal Memories Project"
	The information on this page is from my personal history and memories and should NOT be used for any reason other than reading enjoyment

In 1954-55, my family lived in Palmdale, California. While attending Antelope Valley Joint Union High School, I attended classes with Chuck Yeager's children.

My father, Gerry Roberts, worked with Chuck Yeager on F-86 Sabre jets at North American Aircraft in Hawthorne and Palmdale, CA.

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