December 08, 2020

Chuck Yeager Has Slipped the Surly Bonds of Earth


General Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the sound barrier has passed away at 97. 

A veteran of WW2 and Viet Nam he was a test pilot from 1945-1957 where he ran many of the most cutting edge aviation designs through their paces in an era when the envelope of performance was being pushed to the limit and learning was by doing and making mistakes.

Yeager is best known for the first piloted flight past mach one, but was awarded many honors including  the, Air Force Distinguished Service Medal the Army Distinguished Service Medal, 2 Silver Stars, 2 Legion of Merit awards, 3 Distinguished Flying Crosses, a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

After retirement as a Brigader General, he set several civilian aviation records, worked on the commission investigating the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger, acted as a technical advisor to Electronic Arts and was engaged in numerous educational initiatives. in 2012, on the 65th anniversary of his historic flight, he recreated it, in an F-15. 



Passing away at 97, he lived a long, wondrous and fruitful life, but he was an American icon who will be sorely missed. 

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 02:36 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 RIP
I went to Edwards to the 50th anniversary in 1999. Heard the sonic boom and saw Gen. Yeager taxi up and climb out of the F-15. Also, they let SR-71 make a low pass (subsonic, of course).

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Wed Dec 9 12:16:57 2020 (LZ7Bg)

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