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skreamer
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Jan 2, 2003, 3:58 AM
Post #1 of 25
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Registered: Feb 26, 2001
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I've always held Chuck Yeager in high esteem (probably partly due to seeing 'The Right Stuff' at an impressionable age). I read an excellent interview with him (available here). Here is his description of his first 'skydive' :
Interviewer : "All right, lets go back to that March 5, 1944. Describe exactly what happened."
Chuck Yeager : "I was in a dog-fight with three 190s and I got hit head-on with a 20 mm cannon, and the prop came off the airplane, part of the wing, the canopy, and it caught on fire. So me and the airplane parted company. That's the way it happens. You bail out, you free fall in your parachute, and then when you get down to within three or four thousand feet of the ground, you pull the ripcord, the parachute pops and you land. That's about the way it happens."
This was four years before he broke the speed of sound. We get so carried away with how 'radical' and 'extreme' we think we are today - unassuming guys like him were doing it all a long long time ago. 
Will
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Spy38W
United States
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Jan 2, 2003, 7:22 AM
Post #2 of 25
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Registered: Jan 14, 2002
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Yah, very cool guy. His autobiography is a pretty interesting read "Yeager: An Autobiography"
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steve1
United States
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: 800
: D 23640
: 11 years
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Jan 2, 2003, 10:08 AM
Post #3 of 25
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Registered: Aug 28, 2001
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I read his book. I think it was called "The Right Stuff". What a guy! I wish I had guts like that. Steve1
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quade
Moderator
United States
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: 2900
: D 22635
: 10 years
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Jan 2, 2003, 10:12 AM
Post #4 of 25
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Registered: Dec 10, 1999
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Tom Wolfe wrote "The Right Stuff".
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Jessica
United States
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: 250
: B 25202
: 3 years
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Jan 2, 2003, 11:30 AM
Post #5 of 25
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Registered: Oct 19, 2000
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I have a copy of "The Right Stuff" signed by Chuck Yeager. Great book, and quite a departure from style for Tom Wolfe.
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pilotdave
United States
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: 2100
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: 12 years
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Jan 2, 2003, 12:49 PM
Post #6 of 25
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Registered: May 15, 2001
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I met chuck yeager a few years ago. It's amazing how he views his own career. That's how he views it... a career. Someone asked him what it was like to break the sound barrier for the first time. He said his job was to break the sound barrier, and he did it, and that was it. He didn't think of it as anything very special at the time. He had broken a couple of ribs the day before so he used a broomstick to help him into the X-1 and get the door closed. Someone asked him what ever happened to that broomstick. He said he had no idea, it was just a broomstick. He said he wished he had kept it since it kind of became a legend, but at the time it was just a makeshift tool. Really nice guy. Hard to believe he just gave up flying F-15s recently.
Dave
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lawrocket
United States
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Jan 2, 2003, 6:49 PM
Post #7 of 25
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Registered: Oct 25, 2002
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Actually, that would be his second skydive.
If memory serves me correctly, he had to bail out of a burning P-39 while training to fly fighter airplanes before goign to Europe for WWII. I believe it was while he was in Tonopah.
I do remember his quote: "My back was broken, and it hurt like hell." He probably couldn't blame it on a hard opening, either.
-
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screwbag
United States
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: C 34044
: 6 years
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Jan 6, 2003, 3:24 PM
Post #10 of 25
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I find it interested to look up the lesser known names in the same arena...
I met an old fly buddy of chucks, by the name of Bill Meenach...they worked together on the old Y-12 project (later called the SR-71) He has some really great stories to tell...
so be sure not to forget the lesser known folks...
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quatorze
United States
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: 4 years
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Jan 8, 2003, 9:01 AM
Post #11 of 25
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Registered: May 20, 2002
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I just meant that the P-39 was not a USArmy Air Corp trainer, the post I was replying to implied that it may have been used much the same as the stearman biplanes were used for training only
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airtwardo
United States
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: 36 years
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Jan 27, 2003, 6:38 PM
Post #14 of 25
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Registered: Oct 30, 2002
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I met him a few times...
neat guy!
(This post was edited by airtwardo on Jan 27, 2003, 6:39 PM)
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smooth
United States
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: 1600
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: 34 years
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Jan 28, 2003, 7:37 AM
Post #15 of 25
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Registered: May 30, 2002
Posts: 519
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I see you had to give him a few beers and hold a gun to his head to get the picture.  
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skreamer
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Feb 4, 2003, 2:20 PM
Post #17 of 25
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Registered: Feb 26, 2001
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Good story, but why was he carrying a water-gun?
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screwbag
United States
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: 350
: C 34044
: 6 years
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May 10, 2004, 1:09 PM
Post #19 of 25
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Registered: May 2, 2001
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To Add to my earlier post about Bill Meenach...
I was just informed that he passed away lastnight in his nome in Susanville, CA
He'll be missed...A good friend, and mentor. He always pushed me to go higher and faster than i ever thought possible in all aspects of my life.
Blue Skies Forever Bill....
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Beerlight
United States
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May 14, 2004, 9:55 AM
Post #20 of 25
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Registered: Jan 6, 2002
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And to add additional info for some of you historians. This came out today on AOPA.org
Legendary test pilot Pete Knight dies at 74
May 13 — Pete Knight, a pilot with astronaut wings earned during his high-altitude flights in a North American Aviation X-15 rocket plane that reached a scorching 4,520 mph (the 1967 record still stands), died of leukemia on May 7. He was 74. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross for an X-15 flight earlier in 1967 when he landed safely after suffering an electrical failure at 173,000 feet while doing Mach 4.17 that shut down all on-board systems. The Vietnam combat pilot and former Palmdale, California, mayor was a state senator at the time of his death, known for his defense of conservative values. Most recently he was fighting to restore the Pledge of Allegiance to schools. See the profile on the Web site.
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nitrochute
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: 3500
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: 48 years
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May 14, 2004, 6:12 PM
Post #21 of 25
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Registered: Apr 7, 2004
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they buried him yesterday in palmdale.story in the antelope valley press(www.avpress.com)also of note,rutans spaceship one entry in the xprize contest made its first foray into space,also yesterday.
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cloudseeker2001
United States
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May 16, 2004, 6:05 PM
Post #22 of 25
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Registered: Mar 11, 2002
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I've been performing in U.S. airshows for just over 20 years now...gotten some remarkable signatures along the way
thats really cool!
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airtwardo
United States
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: 3800
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: 36 years
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May 17, 2004, 8:05 AM
Post #23 of 25
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Registered: Oct 30, 2002
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Re: [cloudseeker2001] Chuck Yeager
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thats really cool!
Thanks! Here's a few of my favorites... Smitty The Jumper... Chuck Yeager....(1st at Mach 1) That's "Pappy" Boyington & the Japanese fighter pilot that shot him down!! Bob Hover...(Mach 1 chase plane) Scott Crossfield....(First at Mach 2) Larry Neiman...(balloons across the Atlanitc)
(This post was edited by airtwardo on May 17, 2004, 9:13 AM)
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Beerlight
United States
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May 21, 2004, 3:53 PM
Post #24 of 25
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Registered: Jan 6, 2002
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And this from today on AOPA.org
'MEMPHIS BELLE' COMMANDER DIES
Col. Robert Morgan, pilot of the famous Memphis Belle Boeing B-17 bomber, died last Saturday. He was 85. The aircraft was the first to complete 25 missions in Europe and return to the United States. The aircraft toured the country to sell war bonds. Morgan later flew 25 missions in a Boeing B-29 bomber over Japan. A documentary was made in 1944 about the aircraft, and it was featured in a Hollywood movie.
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VoodooFreeFly
United States
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: 2500
: D
: 6 years
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Jun 3, 2004, 7:38 PM
Post #25 of 25
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Registered: Apr 17, 2003
Posts: 17
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Skydivers cant forget to mention Joe Kittinger.
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