GetWiki

{{Short description|American flying ace and test pilot (1923–2020)}}{{Use American English|date=December 2020}}{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}

factoids

| birth_place = Myra, West Virginia, U.S.20200702|13}}| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.| placeofburial = United States}}{{Flagicon imageUnited States Army Air Forces>{{air force|US}}}}1941–1947 (Army Air Forces)|1947–1975 (Air Force)}}16px) Brigadier general

• World War II
• Korean War
• Vietnam War

{edih}

• Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
• Army Distinguished Service Medal
• Silver Star (2)
• Legion of Merit (2)
• Distinguished Flying Cross (3)
• Bronze Star Medal
• Purple Heart
• (more...)

}}

• {{marriage|Glennis Dickhouse|1945|1990|end=her death{edih}
• {{marriage|Victoria Scott D’Angelo|2003}}

}}| children = 4| relations = Steve Yeager (cousin)Flight instructor|test pilot}}www.chuckyeager.com}}| signature = Chuck Yeager signature.SVG| signature_size = 150px}}Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|j|eɪ|É¡|É™r}} {{respell|YAY|gÉ™r}}, February 13, 1923{{spnd}}December 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight.Yeager was raised in Hamlin, West Virginia. His career began in World War II as a private in the United States Army, assigned to the Army Air Forces in 1941.{{#tag:ref|Yeager had not been in an airplane prior to January 1942, when his Engineering Officer invited him on a test flight after maintenance of an AT-11. He related that he became very sick on the flight: “After puking all over myself I said, ‘Yeager, you made a big mistake’”.MAGAZINE, My First Time, Air & Space/Smithsonian, 17, 2, June–July 2002, 48, |group=lower-alpha}} 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 Army Air Force version of the Army’s warrant officer), later achieving most of his aerial victories as a P-51 Mustang 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). On October 12, 1944, he attained “ace in a day” status, shooting down five enemy aircraft in one mission.After the war, Yeager became a test pilot and flew many types of aircraft, including experimental rocket-powered aircraft for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Through the NACA program, 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 {{cvt|45000|ft|m|sigfig=3}}, for which he won both the Collier and Mackay trophies in 1948. He then went on to break several other speed and altitude records in the following years. In 1962, he became the first commandant of the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School, which trained and produced astronauts for NASA and the Air Force.Yeager later commanded fighter squadrons and wings in Germany, as well as in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. In recognition of his achievements and the outstanding performance ratings of those units, he was promoted to brigadier general in 1969 and inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1973, retiring on March 1, 1975. His three-war active-duty flying career spanned more than 30 years and took him to many parts of the world, including the Korean War zone and the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War.Yeager is referred to by many as one of the greatest pilots of all time, and was ranked fifth on Flying{{’s}} list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation in 2013. Throughout his life, he flew more than 360 different types of aircraft over a 70-year period, and continued to fly for two decades after retirement as a consultant pilot for the United States Air Force.

Early life and education

Yeager was born February 13, 1923, in Myra, West Virginia,NEWS, Chuck Yeager, Test Pilot Who Broke the Sound Barrier, Is Dead at 97, December 8, 2020,www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/us/chuck-yeager-dead.html, Goldstein, Richard, The New York Times, December 7, 2020, to farming parents Albert Hal Yeager (1896–1963) and Susie Mae Yeager ({{nee|Sizemore}}; 1898–1987).BOOK, Ken, Sullivan, West Virginia Humanities Council, 2006,books.google.com/books?id=g0cUAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Albert+Hal+and+Susie+Mae+Sizemore+Yeager%22, The West Virginia Encyclopedia, 978-0-9778498-0-2, October 15, 2018,web.archive.org/web/20181015192316/https://books.google.ca/books?id=g0cUAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Albert+Hal+and+Susie+Mae+Sizemore+Yeager%22&dq=%22Albert+Hal+and+Susie+Mae+Sizemore+Yeager%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjqn92PqIjeAhWBl-AKHeqmAcsQ6AEIFjAA, October 15, 2018, live, When he was five years old, his family moved to Hamlin, West Virginia. Yeager had two brothers, Roy and Hal Jr., and two sisters, Doris Ann (accidentally killed at age one by four-year-old Roy playing with a firearm)NEWS, Four-Year-Old Boy Kills Baby Sister with Gun,www.newspapers.com/clip/65128536/doris-ann-yeager-1929-1930/, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 23, 1930, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2, December 12, 2020, Newspapers.com {{Open access, }}WEB,www.esquire.com/news-politics/interviews/a5431/chuck-yeager-quotes-0109/, Esquire Magazine, Chuck Yeager: What I’ve Learned, December 25, 2008, May 25, 2014,www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/chuck-yeager-quotes-0109," title="web.archive.org/web/20140713070721www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/chuck-yeager-quotes-0109,">web.archive.org/web/20140713070721www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/chuck-yeager-quotes-0109, July 13, 2014, live, BOOK, Yeager, Chuck, Leo, Janos, amp, Yeager: An Autobiography,archive.org/details/yeagerautobiogra00yeag, registration, New Yorkyear=1985page=https://archive.org/details/yeagerautobiogra00yeag/page/6 6, and Pansy Lee.He attended Hamlin High School, where he played basketball and football, receiving his best grades in geometry and typing. He graduated from high school in June 1941.WEB,www.chuckyeager.com/1923-1941-growing-up, Chuck Yeager’s Humble Beginnings, chuckyeager.com, May 6, 2020, June 15, 2012,www.chuckyeager.com/1923-1941-growing-up," title="web.archive.org/web/20120615164729www.chuckyeager.com/1923-1941-growing-up,">web.archive.org/web/20120615164729www.chuckyeager.com/1923-1941-growing-up, dead, His first experience with the military was as a teen at the Citizens Military Training Camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, Indiana, during the summers of 1939 and 1940. On February 26, 1945, Yeager married Glennis Dickhouse, and the couple had four children. Glennis Yeager died in 1990, predeceasing her husband by 30 years.MAGAZINE, Houvouras, John H.,www.chuckyeager.com/HuntingtonQuarterly.pdf, The Man,www.chuckyeager.com/HuntingtonQuarterly.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20150923203135www.chuckyeager.com/HuntingtonQuarterly.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20150923203135www.chuckyeager.com/HuntingtonQuarterly.pdf, September 23, 2015, The Huntington Quarterly, Winter 1998, 21, April 14, 2015, His cousin, Steve Yeager, was a professional baseball catcher.NEWS, Kantowski, Ron, Q+A Steve Yeager,lasvegassun.com/news/2006/apr/06/qa-steve-yeager/, February 26, 2016, Las Vegas Sun, April 6, 2006, He’s not my uncle, he’s a cousin. That’s a misprint. You can’t believe everything you read.,lasvegassun.com/news/2006/apr/06/qa-steve-yeager/," title="web.archive.org/web/20160308015218lasvegassun.com/news/2006/apr/06/qa-steve-yeager/,">web.archive.org/web/20160308015218lasvegassun.com/news/2006/apr/06/qa-steve-yeager/, March 8, 2016, live, {{refn|Chuck Yeager is not related to Jeana Yeager, one of the two pilots of the Rutan Voyager aircraft, which circled the world without landing or refueling.NEWS, Jeana Yeager Was Not Just Along for the Ride,articles.latimes.com/1986-12-24/news/mn-236_1_jeana-yeager, February 26, 2016, Los Angeles Times, December 24, 1986,articles.latimes.com/1986-12-24/news/mn-236_1_jeana-yeager," title="web.archive.org/web/20160304231049articles.latimes.com/1986-12-24/news/mn-236_1_jeana-yeager,">web.archive.org/web/20160304231049articles.latimes.com/1986-12-24/news/mn-236_1_jeana-yeager, March 4, 2016, live, |group=lower-alpha}}

Career

World War II

Yeager enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) on September 12, 1941, and became an aircraft mechanic at George Air Force Base, Victorville, California. At enlistment, Yeager was not eligible for flight training because of his age and educational background, but the entry of the U.S. into World War II less than three months later prompted the USAAF to alter its recruiting standards. Yeager had unusually sharp vision (a visual acuity rated 20/10), which once enabled him to shoot a deer at {{cvt|600|yd}}.{{harvp|Yeager|Janos|1985|p= 297|ps=.}}At the time of his flight training acceptance, he was a crew chief on an AT-11.WEB,www.chuckyeager.com/1941-1943-training-for-war, Chuck Yeager’s Training for War, May 14, 2020, April 29, 2020,www.chuckyeager.com/1941-1943-training-for-war," title="web.archive.org/web/20200429163607www.chuckyeager.com/1941-1943-training-for-war,">web.archive.org/web/20200429163607www.chuckyeager.com/1941-1943-training-for-war, dead, He received his pilot wings and a promotion to flight officer at Luke Field, Arizona, where he graduated from Class 43C on March 10, 1943. Assigned to the 357th Fighter Group at Tonopah, Nevada, he initially trained as a fighter pilot, flying Bell P-39 Airacobras (being grounded for seven days for clipping a farmer’s tree during a training flight),MAGAZINE, Take Off Magazine #36, Take Off, 36, 991, and shipped overseas with the group on November 23, 1943.WEB, Poffenberger, Leah, October 2020, This Month in Physics History,www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/202010/history.cfm, December 8, 2020, American Physical Society, File:Captain Charles E. Yeager.jpg|thumb|upright|Yeager in {{circa|1944}} was a young captain in the United States Army Air ForcesUnited States Army Air ForcesStationed in the United Kingdom at RAF Leiston, Yeager flew P-51 Mustangs in combat with the 363d Fighter Squadron. He named his aircraft Glamorous GlenWEB, Chuck Yeager downs five – becomes an ‘Ace in a Day’, n.d., July 7, 2015, World War II Today,ww2today.com/12-october-1944-chuck-yeager-downs-five-becomes-an-ace-in-a-day,ww2today.com/12-october-1944-chuck-yeager-downs-five-becomes-an-ace-in-a-day," title="web.archive.org/web/20150121114735ww2today.com/12-october-1944-chuck-yeager-downs-five-becomes-an-ace-in-a-day,">web.archive.org/web/20150121114735ww2today.com/12-october-1944-chuck-yeager-downs-five-becomes-an-ace-in-a-day, January 21, 2015, live, WEB, 12 October 1944, n.d., July 7, 2015, This Day in Aviation,www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/363d-fighter-squadron/,www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/363d-fighter-squadron/," title="web.archive.org/web/20150707233503www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/363d-fighter-squadron/,">web.archive.org/web/20150707233503www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/363d-fighter-squadron/, July 7, 2015, live, after his girlfriend, Glennis Faye Dickhouse, who became his wife in February 1945. Yeager had gained one victory before he was shot down over France in his first aircraft (P-51B-5-NA s/n 43-6763) on March 5, 1944, on his eighth mission.WEB,narademo.umiacs.umd.edu/cgi-bin/isadg/viewitem.pl?item=105467, Escape and Evasion Case File for Flight Officer Charles (Chuck) E. Yeager,narademo.umiacs.umd.edu/cgi-bin/isadg/viewitem.pl?item=105467," title="web.archive.org/web/20090218212756narademo.umiacs.umd.edu/cgi-bin/isadg/viewitem.pl?item=105467,">web.archive.org/web/20090218212756narademo.umiacs.umd.edu/cgi-bin/isadg/viewitem.pl?item=105467, February 18, 2009, narademo.umiacs.umd.edu, December 8, 2010, He escaped to Spain on March 30, 1944, with the help of the Maquis (French Resistance) and returned to England on May 15, 1944. During his stay with the Maquis, Yeager assisted the guerrillas in duties that did not involve direct combat; he helped construct bombs for the group, a skill that he had learned from his father.{{harvp|Yeager|Janos|1985|p=45}} He was awarded the Bronze Star for helping a navigator, Omar M. “Pat” Patterson, Jr., to cross the Pyrenees.WEB, Michon, Heather, November 10, 2018, The Story of Chuck Yeager, the Pilot Who Broke the Sound Barrier,www.thoughtco.com/chuck-yeager-pilot-biography-4169722, December 8, 2020, ThoughtCo, Despite a regulation prohibiting “evaders” (escaped pilots) from flying over enemy territory again, the purpose of which was to prevent resistance groups from being compromised by giving the enemy a second chance to possibly capture him, Yeager was reinstated to flying combat. He had joined another evader, fellow P-51 pilot 1st Lt Fred Glover,BOOK, Disney, Ryan, Escape & Evasion Report No. 686: The True Story of an American Fighter Pilot’s Escape from Nazi-Occupied France, Amazon Digital Services, 2016, B01N9LBA0H, in speaking directly to the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, on June 12, 1944.BOOK, Williams, Colleen Madonna Flood,books.google.com/books?id=rO5bAgAAQBAJ&q=%22Chuck+Yeager%22+%22Eisenhower%22+%22June+12%22&pg=PT31, Chuck Yeager, 2013, Infobase Learning, 978-1-4381-4735-2, “I raised so much hell that General Eisenhower finally let me go back to my squadron” Yeager said. “He cleared me for combat after D Day, because all the free Frenchmen – Maquis and people like that – had surfaced”.WEB,airportjournals.com/chuck-yeager-booming-and-zooming-part-1/, Chuck Yeager: Booming And Zooming (Part 1), November 3, 2003, Airport Journals, Eisenhower, after gaining permission from the War Department to decide the requests, concurred with Yeager and Glover. In the meantime, Yeager shot down his second enemy aircraft, a German Junkers Ju 88 bomber, over the English Channel.BOOK, Press, Salem,books.google.com/books?id=obVZAAAAYAAJ, American Heroes, 2009, Salem Press, 978-1-58765-460-2, 1041, File:P51-1 300.jpg|thumb|right|P-51D-20NA, Glamorous Glen III, is the aircraft in which Yeager achieved most of his aerial victories.]]Yeager demonstrated outstanding flying skills and combat leadership. On October 12, 1944, he became the first pilot in his group to make “ace in a day,” downing five enemy aircraft in a single mission. Two of these victories were scored without firing a single shot: when he flew into firing position against a Messerschmitt Bf 109, the pilot of the aircraft panicked, breaking to port and colliding with his wingman.{{harvp|Yeager|Janos|1985|p=57|page=https://archive.org/details/yeagerautobiogra00yeag/page/57}} Yeager said both pilots bailed out. He finished the war with 11.5 official victories, including one of the first air-to-air victories over a jet fighter, a German Messerschmitt Me 262 that he shot down as it was on final approach for landing.WEB,warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/chuck-yeager-fighter-pilot/, Niderost, Eric, Chuck Yeager: Fighter Pilot, Warfare History Network, June 21, 2017, March 29, 2018,warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/chuck-yeager-fighter-pilot/," title="web.archive.org/web/20180329064304warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/chuck-yeager-fighter-pilot/,">web.archive.org/web/20180329064304warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/chuck-yeager-fighter-pilot/, March 29, 2018, live, WEB,www.chuckyeager.com/yeager-destroys-an-me-262, Encounter Report, November 6, 1944, March 29, 2018,www.chuckyeager.com/yeager-destroys-an-me-262," title="web.archive.org/web/20180222114645www.chuckyeager.com/yeager-destroys-an-me-262,">web.archive.org/web/20180222114645www.chuckyeager.com/yeager-destroys-an-me-262, February 22, 2018, live, In his 1986 memoirs, Yeager recalled with disgust that “atrocities were committed by both sides”, and said he went on a mission with orders from the Eighth Air Force to “strafe anything that moved”.BOOK, Samuel, Wolfgang W. E., American Raiders: The Race to Capture the Luftwaffe’s Secrets, Jackson, University Press of Mississippi, 2004, 978-1-57806-649-0, 454, BOOK, Coady, C. A. J., Morality and Political Violence, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2008, 978-0-521-70548-6, 13, During the mission briefing, he whispered to Major Donald H. Bochkay, “If we are going to do things like this, we sure as hell better make sure we are on the winning side”. Yeager said, “I’m certainly not proud of that particular strafing mission against civilians. But it is there, on the record and in my memory”.{{harvp|Yeager|Janos|1985|pp=63, 80|ps=.}} He also expressed bitterness at his treatment in England during World War II, prompting descriptions of the British as “arrogant” and “nasty” on Twitter.NEWS, Adam, Boult, October 5, 2016,www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/05/british-people-are-nasty-and-arrogant-says-wwii-flying-ace-chuck/, WWII flying ace Chuck Yeager in extraordinary attack on ‘nasty’ and ‘arrogant’ British people, The Daily Telegraph, London, April 5, 2018,www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/05/british-people-are-nasty-and-arrogant-says-wwii-flying-ace-chuck/," title="web.archive.org/web/20180226215647www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/05/british-people-are-nasty-and-arrogant-says-wwii-flying-ace-chuck/,">web.archive.org/web/20180226215647www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/05/british-people-are-nasty-and-arrogant-says-wwii-flying-ace-chuck/, February 26, 2018, live, Yeager was commissioned a second lieutenant while at Leiston, and was promoted to captain before the end of his tour. He flew his 61st and final mission on January 15, 1945, and returned to the United States in early February 1945. As an evader, he received his choice of assignments and, because his new wife was pregnant, chose Wright Field to be near his home in West Virginia. His high number of flight hours and maintenance experience qualified him to become a functional test pilot of repaired aircraft, which brought him under the command of Colonel Albert Boyd, head of the Aeronautical Systems Flight Test Division.{{harvp|Yeager|Janos|1985|p= 60|ps=.}}

Post-World War II

Test pilot – breaking the sound barrier

(File:Yeager supersonic flight 1947.ogv|thumb|right|Yeager broke the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, in the X-1.)Yeager remained in the U.S. Army Air Forces after the war, becoming a test pilot at Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards Air Force Base), following graduation from Air Materiel Command Flight Performance School (Class 46C).WEB,www.cnet.com/news/getting-schooled-with-the-air-forces-elite-test-pilots,web.archive.org/web/20170906051721/https://www.cnet.com/news/getting-schooled-with-the-air-forces-elite-test-pilots/, September 6, 2017, Getting schooled with the Air Force’s elite test pilots, CNET, April 30, 2017, After Bell Aircraft test pilot Chalmers “Slick” Goodlin demanded {{US$|150000|1947|round=-4}} to break the sound “barrier”, the USAAF selected the 24-year-old Yeager to fly the rocket-powered Bell XS-1 in a NACA program to research high-speed flight.{{harvp|Yeager|Janos|1985|p=121|ps=.}}BOOK, Tom Wolfe, Wolfe, Tom, The Right Stuff (book), The Right Stuff, New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1979, 0-374-25033-2, 52–53, Under the National Security Act of 1947, the USAAF became the United States Air Force (USAF) on September 18.File:Chuck Yeager.jpg|thumb|Yeager stands in front of the Bell X-1Bell X-1(File:Chuck Yeager X-1 (color).jpg|thumb|Yeager is in the Bell X-1 cockpit.)Such was the difficulty, that the answers to many of the inherent challenges were like “Yeager better have paid-up insurance”.{{harvp|Yeager|Janos|1985|p=157 |ps=.}} Two nights before the scheduled flight date, Yeager broke two ribs when he fell from a horse. He was worried that the injury would remove him from the mission and reported that he went to a civilian doctor in nearby Rosamond, who taped his ribs.BOOK, Ryan, Craig, Sonic Wind: The Story of John Paul Stapp and How a Renegade Doctor Became the Fastest Man on Earth, 2015, W. W. Norton & Company, 978-1-63149-079-8, 98–99,books.google.com/books?id=ID-dBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT98, February 26, 2016, {{refn|In some versions of the story, the doctor was a veterinarian; however, local residents have noted that Rosamond was so small that it had neither a medical doctor nor a veterinarian.|group=lower-alpha}} Besides his wife who was riding with him, Yeager told only his friend and fellow project pilot Jack Ridley about the accident. On the day of the flight, Yeager was in such pain that he could not seal the X-1’s hatch by himself. Ridley rigged up a device, using the end of a broom handle as an extra lever, to allow Yeager to seal the hatch.NEWS, Fountain, Nigel, December 8, 2020, Chuck Yeager obituary, The Guardian,www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/08/chuck-yeager-obituary, December 8, 2020, 0261-3077, Yeager broke the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, in level flight while piloting the X-1 Glamorous Glennis at Mach 1.05 at an altitude of {{cvt|45000|ft|m|sigfig=3}}NEWS,www.nytimes.com/1947/12/22/archives/new-us-plane-said-to-fly-faster-than-speed-of-sound-said-to-have.html, New U.S. Plane Said to Fly Faster Than Speed of Sound,web.archive.org/web/20180723004851/https://www.nytimes.com/1947/12/22/archives/new-us-plane-said-to-fly-faster-than-speed-of-sound-said-to-have.html, July 23, 2018, The New York Times, December 22, 1947, An experimental rocket plane, the Bell XS-1, has flown faster than the speed of sound a number of times recently, Aviation Week & Space Technology, Aviation Week reports in an issue to be released tomorrow., {{refn|Yeager was the first confirmed to break the sound barrier, and the first by any measure to do it in level flight. Other pilots who have been suggested as unproven possibilities to have exceeded the sound barrier before Yeager were all flying in a steep dive for the supposed occurrence. There is anecdotal evidence that American pilot George Welch may have broken the sound barrier two weeks before Yeager, while diving an XP-86 Sabre on October 1, 1947, and again on October 14, just 30 minutes before Yeager’s X-1 flight. However, the precision instruments used to carefully document the speed of Yeager’s flight were not used during Welch’s flights.MAGAZINE, Blackburn, Al,www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/mach-match-361247/?all," title="wayback.archive-it.org/all/20140511104429www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/mach-match-361247/?all,">wayback.archive-it.org/all/20140511104429www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/mach-match-361247/?all, May 11, 2014,www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/mach-match-361247/?all, Mach match: Did an XP-86 beat Yeager to the punch?, Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine, The Smithsonian, January 1999, April 14, 2015, Even earlier, German pilot Lothar Sieber was estimated to have broken the speed of sound during his fatal test-flight of the rocket-powered Bachem Natter on March 1, 1945, although the speed was not officially measured.NEWS,www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/pilot-chuck-yeagers-resolve-to-break-the-sound-barrier-was-made-of-the-right-stuff/news-story/b5cc3ee54c061c32b0bb08f42e11ab24, Pilot Chuck Yeager’s resolve to break the sound barrier was made of the right stuff, Donnelly, Marea, October 13, 2017, The Daily Telegraph, March 29, 2018,www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/pilot-chuck-yeagers-resolve-to-break-the-sound-barrier-was-made-of-the-right-stuff/news-story/b5cc3ee54c061c32b0bb08f42e11ab24," title="web.archive.org/web/20171018195504www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/pilot-chuck-yeagers-resolve-to-break-the-sound-barrier-was-made-of-the-right-stuff/news-story/b5cc3ee54c061c32b0bb08f42e11ab24,">web.archive.org/web/20171018195504www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/pilot-chuck-yeagers-resolve-to-break-the-sound-barrier-was-made-of-the-right-stuff/news-story/b5cc3ee54c061c32b0bb08f42e11ab24, October 18, 2017, live, In his 1990 book Me-163, former Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet pilot Mano Ziegler claims that his friend, test pilot Heini Dittmar, broke the sound barrier and that on July 6, 1944, he reached 1,130 km/h in dive, and that several people on the ground heard the sonic booms. There was also a disputed claim by German pilot Hans Guido Mutke that he was the first person to break the sound barrier, on April 9, 1945, in a Messerschmitt Me 262.WEB, Yoon, Joe,www.aerospaceweb.org/question/history/q0198c.shtml, Me 262 and the Sound Barrier, aerospaceweb.org, October 7, 2004, April 14, 2015,www.aerospaceweb.org/question/history/q0198c.shtml," title="web.archive.org/web/20160305021742www.aerospaceweb.org/question/history/q0198c.shtml,">web.archive.org/web/20160305021742www.aerospaceweb.org/question/history/q0198c.shtml, March 5, 2016, live, |group=lower-alpha}} over the Rogers Dry Lake of the Mojave Desert in California.WEB,www.britannica.com/technology/X-1-airplane, Bell X-1, Encyclopedia Britannica, English, December 8, 2022, The success of the mission was not announced to the public for nearly eight months, until June 10, 1948.NEWS,news.google.com/newspapers?id=AAwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2734%2C2355693, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Associated Press, Two U.S. planes fly faster than sound, June 11, 1948, 4, WEB,www.history.com/this-day-in-history/yeager-breaks-sound-barrier, This day in history: Yeager breaks the sound barrier, September 5, 2015,www.history.com/this-day-in-history/yeager-breaks-sound-barrier," title="web.archive.org/web/20150905061022www.history.com/this-day-in-history/yeager-breaks-sound-barrier,">web.archive.org/web/20150905061022www.history.com/this-day-in-history/yeager-breaks-sound-barrier, September 5, 2015, live, Yeager was awarded the Mackay Trophy and the Collier Trophy in 1948 for his mach-transcending flight,WEB,www.naa.aero/html/awards/index.cfm?cmsid=192, Mackay 1940–1949 Winners, National Aeronautic Association,www.naa.aero/html/awards/index.cfm?cmsid=192," title="web.archive.org/web/20120127182450www.naa.aero/html/awards/index.cfm?cmsid=192,">web.archive.org/web/20120127182450www.naa.aero/html/awards/index.cfm?cmsid=192, January 27, 2012, WEB, Collier 1940–1949 Recipients,naa.aero/awards/awards-and-trophies/collier-trophy/collier-1940-1949-winners, National Aeronautic Association, July 22, 2020, and the Harmon International Trophy in 1954.NEWS,select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0F10FC3B5E107B93C7A9178CD85F418585F9, Harmon Prizes go for 2 Air “Firsts”; Vertical-Flight Test Pilot and Airship Endurance Captain Are 1955 Winners, The New York Times, July 5, 1955, The X-1 he flew that day was later put on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.WEB, Bell X-1 “Glamorous Glennis”,airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/bell-x-1-glamorous-glennis/nasm_A19510007000, National Air and Space Museum, December 8, 2020, During 1952, he attended the Air Command and Staff College.WEB, BRIGADIER GENERAL CHARLES E. “CHUCK” YEAGER,www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/105165/brigadier-general-charles-e-chuck-yeager/, United States Air Force, April 26, 2022, (File:Charles Yeager photo portrait head on shoulders left side.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Yeager in 1950)Yeager continued to break many speed and altitude records. He was one of the first American pilots to fly a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, after its pilot, No Kum-sok, defected to South Korea.BOOK, Clark, Mark, From the Danube to the Yalu, New York, Harper, 1954, 208, BOOK, Kum-Suk, No, J. Roger, Osterholm, A MiG-15 to Freedom: Memoir of the Wartime North Korean Defector who First Delivered the Secret Fighter Jet to the Americans in 1953, Jefferson, North Carolina, McFarland & Co., 2007, 978-0-7864-0210-6, 158, Returning to Muroc, during the latter half of 1953, Yeager was involved with the USAF team that was working on the X-1A, an aircraft designed to surpass Mach 2 in level flight. That year, he flew a chase aircraft for the civilian pilot Jackie Cochran as she became the first woman to fly faster than sound.On November 20, 1953, the U.S. Navy program involving the D-558-II Skyrocket and its pilot, Scott Crossfield, became the first team to reach twice the speed of sound. After they were bested, Ridley and Yeager decided to beat rival Crossfield’s speed record in a series of test flights that they dubbed “Operation NACA Weep”. Not only did they beat Crossfield by setting a new record at Mach 2.44 on December 12, 1953, but they did it in time to spoil a celebration planned for the 50th anniversary of flight in which Crossfield was to be called “the fastest man alive”.{{harvp|Yeager|Janos|1985|p=252|ps=.}}The new record flight, however, did not entirely go to plan, since shortly after reaching Mach 2.44, Yeager lost control of the X-1A at about {{cvt|80000|ft|m}} due to inertia coupling, a phenomenon largely unknown at the time. With the aircraft simultaneously rolling, pitching, and yawing out of control, Yeager dropped {{cvt|51000|ft|m}} in less than a minute before regaining control at around {{cvt|29000|ft|m}}. He then managed to land without further incident. For this feat, Yeager was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) in 1954.NEWS, August 1954, Airpower in the News, 37, 17, Air Force Magazine,books.google.com/books?id=I1jdZ3m2uFgC&pg=RA9-PA9, {{Refn|Yeager received the DSM in the Army design, since the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal was not awarded until 1965.|group=lower-alpha}}

Military command

File:Chuck Yeager 1950.jpg|thumb|right|Yeager was Commandant of the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School, with a model of the North American X-15North American X-15Yeager was foremost a fighter pilot and held several squadron and wing commands. From 1954 to 1957, he commanded the F-86H Sabre-equipped 417th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (50th Fighter-Bomber Wing) at Hahn AB, West Germany, and Toul-Rosieres Air Base, France; and from 1957 to 1960 the F-100D Super Sabre-equipped 1st Fighter Day Squadron at George Air Force Base, California, and Morón Air Base, Spain.WEB, Young, James, Squadron Leader,www.chuckyeager.com/1954-1961-squadron-leader, December 8, 2020, ChuckYeager.com, December 8, 2020,web.archive.org/web/20201208060758/https://www.chuckyeager.com/1954-1961-squadron-leader, dead, He was a full colonel in 1962,WEB,www.chuckyeager.com/1961-1975-to-new-heights, Yeager (n.d.). To New Heights: 1961–1975, September 5, 2013,www.chuckyeager.com/1961-1975-to-new-heights," title="web.archive.org/web/20130926221739www.chuckyeager.com/1961-1975-to-new-heights,">web.archive.org/web/20130926221739www.chuckyeager.com/1961-1975-to-new-heights, September 26, 2013, live, after completion of a year’s studies and final thesis on STOL aircraftWEB,fairchild-mil.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=42077711, The Ability of a STOL Fighter to Perform the Mission of Tactical Air Forces (1961), December 8, 2020, 3, at the Air War College. He became the first commandant of the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School, which produced astronauts for NASA and the USAF, after its redesignation from the USAF Flight Test Pilot School. He had only a high school education, so he was not eligible to become an astronaut like those he trained. In April 1962, Yeager made his only flight with Neil Armstrong. Their job, flying a T-33, was to evaluate Smith Ranch Dry Lake in Nevada for use as an emergency landing site for the North American X-15. In his autobiography, he wrote that he knew the lake bed was unsuitable for landings after recent rains, but Armstrong insisted on flying out anyway. As Armstrong suggested that they do a touch-and-go, Yeager advised against it, telling him “You may touch, but you ain’t gonna go!” When Armstrong did touch down, the wheels became stuck in the mud, bringing the plane to a sudden stop and provoking Yeager to fits of laughter. They had to wait for rescue.Yeager’s participation in the test pilot training program for NASA included controversial behavior. Yeager reportedly did not believe that Ed Dwight, the first African American pilot admitted into the program, should be a part of it. In the 2019 documentary series Chasing the Moon, the filmmakers made the claim that Yeager instructed staff and participants at the school that “Washington is trying to cram the nigger down our throats. [President] Kennedy is using this to make ‘racial equality,’ so do not speak to him, do not socialize with him, do not drink with him, do not invite him over to your house, and in six months he’ll be gone.“AV MEDIA, Stone, Robert (Writer, Director, Producer), 2019, Chasing The Moon Episode 1, It Took Millions of Steps to Make One Giant Leap, English, DVD, 1:18:05, WGBH Educational Foundation, AE61703, 9781531709419, 1531709419, NEWS, Brown, Walter J., Ed Dwight Was Set to Be the First Black Astronaut. Here’s Why That Never Happened.,www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/us/ed-dwight-was-set-to-be-the-first-black-astronaut-heres-why-that-never-happened.html,ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/us/ed-dwight-was-set-to-be-the-first-black-astronaut-heres-why-that-never-happened.html, January 1, 2022, limited, February 20, 2021, The New York Times, The New York Times Company, July 16, 2019, live, {{cbignore}} In his autobiography, Dwight details how Yeager’s leadership led to discriminatory treatment throughout his training at Edwards Air Force Base.BOOK, Ed Dwight Studios, Inc., Soaring on the Wings of a Dream: The Struggles & Adventures of the “First Black Astronaut” Candidate”, 213–219, Ed Dwight, 2009, 9780984149506, Between December 1963 and January 1964, Yeager completed five flights in the NASA M2-F1 lifting body. An accident during a December 1963 test flight in one of the school’s NF-104s resulted in serious injuries. After climbing to a near-record altitude, the plane’s controls became ineffective, and it entered a flat spin. After several turns, and an altitude loss of approximately 95,000 feet, Yeager ejected from the plane. During the ejection, the seat straps released normally, but the seat base slammed into Yeager, with the still-hot rocket motor breaking his helmet’s plastic faceplate and causing his emergency oxygen supply to catch fire. The resulting burns to his face required extensive and agonizing medical care. This was Yeager’s last attempt at setting test-flying records.WEB,www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/NF-104A_crash_site.htm, The Crash of Chuck Yeager’s NF-104A,www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/NF-104A_crash_site.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20041207150655www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/NF-104A_crash_site.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20041207150655www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/NF-104A_crash_site.htm, December 7, 2004, Check-Six.com, December 10, 1963, WEB,www.thisdayinaviation.com/10-december-1963/, This Day In Aviation, 10 December 1963, Thisdayinaviation.com, December 10, 2021, WEB,www.kalimera.org/nf104/stories/stories_16.html, Yeager’s View, In Review, Kalimera.org, {{efn|The movie The Right Stuff implies that Yeager took the NF-104 on a spur-of-the-moment, unauthorized flight. In reality, it was a part of a scheduled series of test flights.}}In 1966, Yeager took command of the 405th Tactical Fighter Wing at Clark Air Base, the Philippines, whose squadrons were deployed on rotational temporary duty (TDY) in South Vietnam and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. There he flew 127 missions. In February 1968, Yeager was assigned command of the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, and led the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II wing in South Korea during the Pueblo crisis.Yeager was promoted to brigadier general and was assigned in July 1969 as the vice-commander of the Seventeenth Air Force.WEB, Young, James, To New Heights,www.chuckyeager.com/1961-1975-to-new-heights, December 8, 2020, chuckyeager.com, December 8, 2020,www.chuckyeager.com/1961-1975-to-new-heights," title="web.archive.org/web/20201208040722www.chuckyeager.com/1961-1975-to-new-heights,">web.archive.org/web/20201208040722www.chuckyeager.com/1961-1975-to-new-heights, dead, From 1971 to 1973, at the behest of Ambassador Joseph Farland, Yeager was assigned as the Air Attache in Pakistan to advise the Pakistan Air Force which was led by Abdur Rahim Khan (the first Pakistani to break the sound barrier).WEB,www.thenews.com.pk/print/758220-chuck-yeager-the-flying-legend-breaks-the-final-barrier, Chuck Yeager — the flying legend — breaks the final barrier, International, TheNews.com.pk, Group Captain (R) Sultan Mehmood Hali, December 14, 2020, {{harvp|Yeager|Janos|1985|p=391|ps=.}}WEB,en.dailypakistan.com.pk/29-Jun-2015/charles-yeager-and-pakistan-air-force, DailyPakistan.com.pk, Charles Yeager and Pakistan Air Force, Sarfaraz Ali, June 29, 2015, He arrived in Pakistan at a time when tensions with India were at a high level. One of Yeager’s jobs during this time was to assist Pakistani technicians in installing AIM-9 Sidewinders on PAF’s Shenyang F-6 fighters. He also had a keen interest in interacting with PAF personnel from various Pakistani Squadrons and helping them develop combat tactics. In one instance in 1972, while visiting the No. 15 Squadron “Cobras” at Peshawar Airbase, the Squadron’s OC Wing Commander Najeeb Khan escorted him to K2 in a pair of F-86Fs after Yeager requested a visit to the second highest mountain on Earth.BOOK,www.capitolhillbooks-dc.com/pages/books/13153/hussaini-tanvir-m-ahmed-jamal-a-khan-text-intro/paf-over-the-years, PAF over the Years, 95, Trauma & Reconstruction (1971-1980), Group Captain (R) Husseini & Pakistan Air Force, Directorate of Media Affairs, Pakistan Air Force, Revised, TWEET,twitter.com/GenChuckYeager/status/1049753383404371968, Chuck Yeager, Chuck’s accounts on his visit to the K-2 in an F-86, 1049753383404371968, GenChuckYeager, After hostilities broke out in 1971, he decided to stay in West Pakistan and continued overseeing the PAF’s operations. Yeager recalled “the Pakistanis whipped the Indians’ asses in the sky... the Pakistanis scored a three-to-one kill ratio, knocking out 102 Russian-made Indian jets and losing 34 airplanes of their own”.WEB,casstt.com/post/pakistan-air-force-undoubtedly-second-to-none/492, Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies, Pakistan Air Force: Undoubtedly ‘Second to None’!, Hassan Tahir, October 18, 2021,web.archive.org/web/20220813213947/https://casstt.com/post/pakistan-air-force-undoubtedly-second-to-none/492, August 13, 2022, During the war, he flew around the western front in a helicopter documenting wreckages of Indian aircraft of Soviet origin which included Sukhoi Su-7s and MiG-21s. These aircraft were transported to the United States after the war for analysis.BOOK,a.co/d/5orMgpD, Amazon.com, Yeager: An Autobiography, Chuck Yeager, Yeager also flew around in his Beechcraft Queen Air, a small passenger aircraft that was assigned to him by the Pentagon, picking up shot-down Indian fighter pilots.TWEET,twitter.com/GenChuckYeager/status/1103121403971321856, Chuck’s Beechcraft Queen Air, GenChuckYeager, 1103121403971321856, The Beechcraft was later destroyed during an air raid by the IAF at a Pakistani airbase when Yeager was not present.WEB,www.theweek.in/news/world/2020/12/08/americas-greatest-pilot-chuck-yeager-1st-man-to-fly-over-speed-of-sound-dies.html, ‘America’s greatest pilot’: Chuck Yeager, 1st man to fly over speed of sound, dies, theweek.in, December 8, 2020, {{harvp|Yeager|Janos|1985|p=398|ps=.}} Edward C. Ingraham, a U.S. diplomat who had served as political counselor to Ambassador Farland in Islamabad, recalled this incident in the Washington Monthly of October 1985: “After Yeager’s Beechcraft was destroyed during an Indian air raid, he raged to his cowering colleagues that the Indian pilot had been specifically instructed by Indira Gandhi to blast his plane. ‘It was’, he later wrote, ‘the Indian way of giving Uncle Sam the finger’”.MAGAZINE, October 1985, The Right Stuff in the Wrong Place, Washington Monthly, Yeager was incensed over the incident and demanded U.S. retaliation.BOOK, Oxford University, The Gold Bird: Pakistan and Its Air Force – observations of a Pilot, 230–250, Mansoor Shah, 2002,

Post-retirement and in popular culture

(File:ChuckYeager.jpeg|thumb|upright|right|Brigadier General Yeager in 2000)On March 1, 1975, Yeager retired from the Air Force at Norton Air Force Base, California.HTTPS://WWW.AF.MIL/ABOUT-US/BIOGRAPHIES/DISPLAY/ARTICLE/105165/BRIGADIER-GENERAL-CHARLES-E-CHUCK-YEAGER/>TITLE=BRIGADIER GENERAL CHARLES “CHUCK” YEAGER ACCESS-DATE=DECEMBER 8, 2020, Yeager made a cameo appearance in the movie The Right Stuff (1983). He played “Fred”, a bartender at “Pancho’s Place”, which was most appropriate, because he said, “if all the hours were ever totaled, I reckon I spent more time at her place than in a cockpit over those years”.{{harvp|Yeager|Janos|1985|p=172|ps=.}} Sam Shepard portrayed Yeager in the film, which chronicles in part his famous 1947 record-breaking flight.NEWS, Canby, Vincent,movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E05E1DC123BF932A15753C1A965948260&scp=80&sq=%22The+Right+Stuff%22&st=nyt, Film: ‘Right Stuff’, On Astronauts,web.archive.org/web/20201115205705/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/21/movies/film-right-stuff-on-astronauts.html, November 15, 2020, The New York Times, October 21, 1983, December 29, 2008, Yeager has been referenced several times in the shared Star Trek universe, including having a namesake fictional type of starship, a dangerous starship formation-maneuver named after him called the “Yeager Loop” (most notably mentioned in the (Star Trek: The Next Generation) episode “The First Duty“), and appearing in archival footage within the opening title sequence for the series (Star Trek: Enterprise) (2001–2005). For Enterprise, executive producer Rick Berman said that he envisaged the lead character, Captain Jonathan Archer, as being “halfway between Chuck Yeager and Han Solo”.JOURNAL, Spelling, Ian, The Long Trek, Starlog, November 2001, 1, 292, 67–69,archive.org/stream/starlog_magazine-292/292#page/n66/mode/1up, September 14, 2021, For several years in the 1980s, Yeager was connected to General Motors, publicizing ACDelco, the company’s automotive parts division.{{harvp|Yeager|Janos|1985|p=418|ps=.}} In 1986, he was invited to drive the Chevrolet Corvette pace car for the 70th running of the Indianapolis 500. In 1988, Yeager was again invited to drive the pace car, this time at the wheel of an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. In 1986, President Reagan appointed Yeager to the Rogers Commission that investigated the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger.WEB,www.456fis.org/CHUCK_YEAGER_BIOGRAPHY.htm, Brigadier General Charles E. Yeager,www.456fis.org/CHUCK_YEAGER_BIOGRAPHY.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20110724210711www.456fis.org/CHUCK_YEAGER_BIOGRAPHY.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20110724210711www.456fis.org/CHUCK_YEAGER_BIOGRAPHY.htm, July 24, 2011, The 456th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, December 8, 2010, During this time, Yeager also served as a technical adviser for three Electronic Arts flight simulator video games. The games include Chuck Yeager’s Advanced Flight Trainer, Chuck Yeager’s Advanced Flight Trainer 2.0, and Chuck Yeager’s Air Combat. The game manuals feature quotes and anecdotes from Yeager and were well received by players. Missions feature several of Yeager’s accomplishments and let players challenge his records. Chuck Yeager’s Advanced Flight Trainer was Electronic Art’s top-selling game for 1987.WEB,www.mobygames.com/game/chuck-yeagers-advanced-flight-simulator, Moby Games,www.mobygames.com/game/chuck-yeagers-advanced-flight-simulator," title="web.archive.org/web/20170731194151www.mobygames.com/game/chuck-yeagers-advanced-flight-simulator,">web.archive.org/web/20170731194151www.mobygames.com/game/chuck-yeagers-advanced-flight-simulator, July 31, 2017, Chuck Yeager’s Advanced Flight Trainer, June 9, 2017, In 2009, Yeager participated in the documentary The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club, a profile of his friend Pancho Barnes. The documentary was screened at film festivals, aired on public television in the United States, and won an Emmy Award.WEB,www.legendofpanchobarnes.com/, The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club, August 3, 2013,www.legendofpanchobarnes.com/," title="web.archive.org/web/20130523111947www.legendofpanchobarnes.com/,">web.archive.org/web/20130523111947www.legendofpanchobarnes.com/, May 23, 2013, dead, On October 14, 1997, on the 50th anniversary of his historic flight past Mach 1, he flew a new Glamorous Glennis III, an F-15D Eagle, past Mach 1.WEB, Rogers, Keith, October 12, 2012, Famous pilot Yeager re-enacting right stuff 65 years later,www.reviewjournal.com/news/military/famous-pilot-yeager-re-enacting-right-stuff-65-years-later/, December 8, 2020, Las Vegas Review-Journal, The chase plane for the flight was an F-16 Fighting Falcon piloted by Bob Hoover, a longtime test, fighter, and aerobatic pilot who had been Yeager’s wingman for the first supersonic flight.NEWS, January 1998, Yeager’s Encore, Air Force Magazine,www.airforcemag.com/PDF/MagazineArchive/Magazine%20Documents/1998/January%201998/0198yeager.pdf, December 8, 2020, At the end of his speech to the crowd in 1997, Yeager concluded, “All that I am ... I owe to the Air Force”.NEWS, Pasztor, Andy, December 8, 2020, Chuck Yeager, Pioneer of Supersonic Flight, Dies at Age 97, The Wall Street Journal,www.wsj.com/articles/chuck-yeager-pioneer-of-supersonic-flight-dies-at-age-97-11607404925, December 8, 2020, 0099-9660, Later that month, he was the recipient of the Tony Jannus Award for his achievements.WEB, Deam, Jenny, October 1, 2005, Chuck Yeager is honored by Tuskegee Airman,www.tampabay.com/archive/1997/09/27/chuck-yeager-is-honored-by-tuskegee-airman/, December 8, 2020, Tampa Bay Times, On October 14, 2012, on the 65th anniversary of breaking the sound barrier, Yeager did it again at the age of 89, flying as co-pilot in a McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle piloted by Captain David Vincent out of Nellis Air Force Base.NEWS, Rogers, Keith,www.reviewjournal.com/news/military/famous-pilot-yeager-re-enacting-right-stuff-65-years-later/, Famous pilot Yeager re-enacting right stuff 65 years later,web.archive.org/web/20180910094804/https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/military/famous-pilot-yeager-re-enacting-right-stuff-65-years-later/, September 10, 2018, Las Vegas Review-Journal, October 12, 2012,

Awards and decorations

(File:Yeager congressional silver medal.jpg|thumb|right|The Special Congressional Silver Medal was awarded to Yeager in 1976.)In 1973, Yeager was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame, arguably aviation’s highest honor. In 1974, Yeager received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.WEB, Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement, achievement.org, American Academy of Achievement,achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration, In December 1975, the U.S. Congress awarded Yeager a silver medal “equivalent to a noncombat Medal of Honor ... for contributing immeasurably to aerospace science by risking his life in piloting the X-1 research airplane faster than the speed of sound on October 14, 1947”. President Gerald Ford presented the medal to Yeager in a ceremony at the White House on December 8, 1976.WEB,en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:United_States_Statutes_at_Large_Volume_89.djvu/1094, Public Law 94-179, United States Statutes, September 10, 2012, Wikisource, {{refn|This is apparently a unique award, as the law that created it states it is equivalent to a noncombat Medal of Honor. It is referred to as a Special Congressional Silver Medal in the President’s Daily Diary, which also has a list of ceremony attendees.WEB,www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0036/pdd761208.pdf, December 8, 1976, The Daily Diary of President Gerald R. Ford: December 8, 1976, 2,www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0036/pdd761208.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20120920232032www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0036/pdd761208.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20120920232032www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0036/pdd761208.pdf, September 20, 2012, The White House, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, September 10, 2012, |group=lower-alpha}}Yeager never attended college and was often modest about his background, but is considered by many, including Flying Magazine, the California Hall of Fame, the State of West Virginia, National Aviation Hall of Fame, a few U.S. presidents, and the United States Army Air Force, to be one of the greatest pilots of all time. Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine ranked him the fifth greatest pilot of all time in 2003.WEB,www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/10-great-pilots-4026745/, “10 All-Time Great Pilots”., Air & Space Regardless of his lack of higher education, West Virginia’s Marshall University named its highest academic scholarship the Society of Yeager Scholars in his honor. He was the chairman of Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)’s Young Eagle Program from 1994 to 2004, and was named the program’s chairman emeritus.MAGAZINE, Ford, Harrison, Freedom and Responsibility, Sport Aviation, September 2010, In 1966, Yeager was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame.BOOK, Sprekelmeyer, Linda, These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame, Donning, 2006, 978-1-57864-397-4, He was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1981.NEWS,www.newspapers.com/clip/29986892/albuquerque_journal/, Hall to Induct Seven Space Pioneers, Albuquerque Journal, September 27, 1981, 53, Harbert, Nancy, Newspapers.com, March 27, 2019, He was inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor 1990 inaugural class.NEWS,www.newspapers.com/clip/36299122/the_los_angeles_times/, Ground-Level Monuments Honor Heroes of the Air, Kaplan, Tracey, Los Angeles Times, September 23, 1990, 840, Newspapers.com, Yeager Airport in Charleston, West Virginia, is named in his honor. The Interstate 64/Interstate 77 bridge over the Kanawha River in Charleston is named in his honor. He also flew directly under the Kanawha Bridge and West Virginia named it the Chuck E. Yeager Bridge. On October 19, 2006, the state of West Virginia also honored Yeager with a marker along Corridor G (part of U.S. Highway 119) in his home Lincoln County, and also renamed part of it the Yeager Highway.NEWS,www.wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=15274, Yeager Comes Home,www.wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=15274," title="web.archive.org/web/20061110171342www.wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=15274,">web.archive.org/web/20061110171342www.wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=15274, November 10, 2006, WOWK-TV, August 19, 2006, Yeager was an honorary board member of the humanitarian organization Wings of Hope.WEB,wings-of-hope.org, Chuck Yeager,www.wings-of-hope.org/," title="web.archive.org/web/20151218201438www.wings-of-hope.org/,">web.archive.org/web/20151218201438www.wings-of-hope.org/, December 18, 2015, Wings of Hope, December 8, 2010, On August 25, 2009, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announced that Yeager would be one of 13 California Hall of Fame inductees in The California Museum’s yearlong exhibit. The induction ceremony was on December 1, 2009, in Sacramento, California. Flying Magazine ranked Yeager number 5 on its 2013 list of The 51 Heroes of Aviation; for many years, he was the highest-ranked living person on the list.WEB,www.flyingmag.com/photo-gallery/photos/51-heroes-aviation?pnid=41840, Chuck Yeager, Flying Magazine’s 51 Heroes of Aviation, August 19, 2013, April 14, 2015, The Civil Air Patrol, the volunteer auxiliary of the USAF, awards the Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager Award to its senior members as part of its Aerospace Education program.WEB,members.gocivilairpatrol.com/aerospace_education/awards/yeager-award/, Yeager Award, Civil Air Patrol,members.gocivilairpatrol.com/aerospace_education/awards/yeager-award/," title="web.archive.org/web/20131104044104members.gocivilairpatrol.com/aerospace_education/awards/yeager-award/,">web.archive.org/web/20131104044104members.gocivilairpatrol.com/aerospace_education/awards/yeager-award/, November 4, 2013, July 10, 2014, {| class=“wikitable” style="background:#ccf; text-align:center;”Badges, patches and tabs100px)United States Aviator Badge>U.S. Air Force Command Pilot Badge style="background:#ccf; text-align:center;”Personal decorationsnumber=0name=Air Force Distinguished Service ribbon|width=60}}|Air Force Distinguished Service Medal (retirement award in 1975)number=0name=Distinguished Service Medal ribbon|width=60}}Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army)>Distinguished Service Medal (Army design awarded in 1954)number=1name=Silver Star ribbon|width=60}}Silver Star with bronze oak leaf cluster (for shooting down five Messerschmitt Bf 109s in one day{{harvp>Yeager1985ps=.}})number=1name=Legion of Merit ribbon|width=60}}|Legion of Merit with bronze oak leaf clusternumber=2name=Distinguished Flying Cross ribbon|width=60}}Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)>Distinguished Flying Cross with two bronze oak leaf clusters (for a Messerschmitt Me 262 kill{{harvpJanosp= 76|ps=.}} and first to break the sound barrier)number=0other_device=vwidth=60}}|Bronze Star Medal with bronze valor device (for helping rescue a fellow airman from Occupied France)number=0name=Purple Heart BAR|width=60}}|Purple Heartnumber=10name=Air Medal ribbon|width=60}}|Air Medal with two silver oak leaf clustersnumber=0name=Air Force Commendation ribbon|width=60}}|Air Force Commendation Medalnumber=0ribbon=Presidential Medal of Freedom (ribbon).svg|width=60}}|Presidential Medal of Freedom style="background:#ccf; text-align:center;”Unit awardsnumber=1ribbon=AF Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon.png|width=60}}Presidential Unit Citation (United States)>Presidential Unit Citation with bronze oak leaf clusternumber=0name=Outstanding Unit ribbon|width=60}}Outstanding Unit Award>Air Force Outstanding Unit Award style="background:#ccf; text-align:center;”Campaign and service medalsnumber=0name=American Defense Service ribbon|width=60}}|American Defense Service Medalnumber=0name=American Campaign Medal ribbon|width=60}}|American Campaign Medalnumber=6name=European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign ribbon|width=60}}|European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with silver and one bronze service starnumber=0name=World War II Victory Medal ribbon|width=60}}World War II Victory Medal (United States)>World War II Victory Medalnumber=0name=Army of Occupation ribbon|width=60}}|Army of Occupation Medal with “Germany” claspnumber=1name=National Defense Service Medal ribbon|width=60}}|National Defense Service Medal with starnumber=0name=AFEMRib|width=60}}|Armed Forces Expeditionary Medalnumber=2name=Vietnam Service Ribbon|width=60}}|Vietnam Service Medal with two campaign starsnumber=6name=Air Force Longevity Service ribbon|width=60}}|Air Force Longevity Service Ribbon with one silver and one bronze oak leaf clustersnumber=0name=USAF Marksmanship ribbon|width=60}}Marksmanship Ribbon>Air Force Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon style="background:#ccf; text-align:center;”Foreign awards60px)Order of National Security Merit>South Korean Order of National Security Merit60px)French Legion of HonourHTTPS://WWW.CHUCKYEAGER.COM/LEGION-OF-HONOR-2003DATE=JULY 18, 2003ACCESS-DATE=AUGUST 30, 2022, 60px)|Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation60px)|Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal

Other achievements

File:CAP Yeager Cadet Sq Emblem.gif|alt=Gen Chuck Yeager Cadet Squadron (SER-FL-237)|thumb|Old emblem of the General Chuck Yeager Cadet Squadron (formerly of the Civil Air PatrolCivil Air Patrol

• 1940–1949 – Harmon Trophy: Citation of Honorable MentionWEB,www.trumanlibrary.org/calendar/main.php?currYear=1950&currMonth=11&currDay=2, Harry S. Truman – The President’s Day, November 2, 1950,
• 1947 – Collier Trophy and Mackay Trophy, for breaking the sound barrier for the first time.NEWS,www.newspapers.com/clip/36575520/the_semiweekly_spokesmanreview/, Three to Share Collier Trophy, Associated Press, The Semi-Weekly Spokesman-Review, December 15, 1948, 15, Newspapers.com, NAA list of Mackay Trophy Winners {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228080436www.naa.aero/html/awards/index.cfm?cmsid=70|date=February 28, 2007}}
• 1953 – Harmon TrophyNEWS,select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0F10FC3B5E107B93C7A9178CD85F418585F9, Harmon Prizes go for 2 Air “Firsts”; Vertical-Flight Test Pilot and Airship Endurance Captain Are 1955 Winners, The New York Times, July 5, 1955, The New York Times, July 5, 1955,
• 1976 – Congressional Silver Medal{{harvp|Yeager|Janos|1985|pp=413–414|ps=.}}

Dates of rank {|class“wikitable plainrowheaders” style@background:white”

! scope=“col” | Insignia! scope=“col” | Rank! scope=“col” | Service and Component! scope=“col” | Dateno insignia at the time!scope=“row” | Private| United States ArmyRegular Army(Army Air Corps)| September 12, 1941(File:US Army WWII PFC.svg35px)! scope=“row” | Private first class to corporal| United States ArmyRegular Army(Army Air Forces)| 1941 to March 9, 1943(File:US-Army-Flight Officer (1941).svg|15px)! scope=“row” | Flight officer| United States ArmyArmy of the United States(Army Air Forces)| March 10, 1943(File:US-O1 insignia.svg|14px)! scope=“row” | Second lieutenant| United States ArmyArmy of the United States(Army Air Forces)| July 6, 1944(File:US-O2 insignia.svg|15px)! scope=“row” | First lieutenant| United States ArmyArmy of the United States(Army Air Forces)| September 4, 1944(File:US-O3 insignia.svg|35px)! scope=“row” | Captain| United States ArmyArmy of the United States(Army Air Forces)| October 24, 1944(File:US-O1 insignia.svg|14px)! scope=“row” | Second lieutenant| United States ArmyRegular Army(Army Air Forces)| February 10, 1947(accepted February 25, 1947, rank from July 6, 1944)(File:US-O2 insignia.svg|15px)! scope=“row” | First lieutenant| United States ArmyRegular Army(Army Air Forces)| July 6, 1947{{Dodseal133}}! scope=“row” | CaptainUnited States Air Force >| July 6, 1951{{Dodseal133}}! scope=“row” | Major| February 15, 1951 (temporary)July 6, 1958 (permanent){{Dodseal133}}! scope=“row” | Lieutenant colonel| March 22, 1956 (temporary)August 1, 1964 (permanent){{Dodseal133}}! scope=“row” | Colonel| March 14, 1961 (temporary)September 20, 1967 (permanent){{Dodseal133}}! scope=“row” | Brigadier general| June 22, 1969BOOK, 1948, Official Army and Air Force Register (Volume II), Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office,archive.org/details/officialarmyregi48unit/page/2018/mode/2up, 2019, BOOK, 1954, Air Force Register, Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office,archive.org/details/airforceregister1954wash/page/330/mode/2up, 330, BOOK, 1958, Air Force Register, Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office,archive.org/details/airforceregister1958wash/page/304/mode/2up, 304, BOOK, 1959, Air Force Register, Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office,archive.org/details/airforceregister1959wash/page/460/mode/2up, 461, BOOK, 1963, Air Force Register, Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office,archive.org/details/airforceregister1963wash/page/578/mode/2up, 579, BOOK, 1965, Air Force Register, Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, 628, BOOK, 1969, Air Force Register, Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, 1357, style@color:blue;“”>

Aerial victory credits{| class“wikitable” style@margin:auto; width:600px;” style@color:blue;”

! style="background:#39f;“|Date !! style="background:#39f;“|# !! style="background:#39f;“|Type !! style="background:#39f;“|Location !! style="background:#39f;“|Aircraft flown !! style="background:#39f;“|Unit Assignedstyle="background: #eeeeee;”1 align=centerMesserschmitt Bf 109>Kassel, Germanyalign=center363 FS, 357 FG0.5 align=centerKassel, Germanyalign=center363 FS, 357 FGstyle="background: #eeeeee;”5 align=centerHanover, Germanyalign=center363 FS, 357 FG1 align=centerMesserschmitt Me 262>Assen, Germanyalign=center363 FS, 357 FGstyle="background: #eeeeee;”4 align=centerFocke-Wulf Fw 190>Magdeburg, Germanyalign=center363 FS, 357 FGAir Force Historical Study 85: USAF Credits for the Destruction of Enemy Aircraft, World War II

Personal life

File:Chuck Yeager commemorates historic flight 121014-F-HZ730-027.jpg|thumb|right|On October 14, 2012, Yeager co-piloted a new Glamorous Glennis III F-15D Eagle to commemorate the 65th anniversary of his historic flight.]]Yeager named his plane after his wife, Glennis, as a good-luck charm: “You’re my good-luck charm, hon. Any airplane I name after you always brings me home.“BOOK, How is it done?, Frost, John, The Reader’s Digest Association Limited, 1990, London, 202, Yeager and Glennis moved to Grass Valley, California, after his retirement from the Air Force in 1975. The couple prospered as a result of Yeager’s best-selling autobiography, speaking engagements, and commercial ventures.NEWS, Moller, Dave,www.theunion.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040219/NEWS/102190105, Yeager children sue their father,www.theunion.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20040219%2FNEWS%2F102190105," title="web.archive.org/web/20120820012601www.theunion.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20040219%2FNEWS%2F102190105,">web.archive.org/web/20120820012601www.theunion.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20040219%2FNEWS%2F102190105, August 20, 2012, The Union, Nevada County, California, February 19, 2004, September 26, 2011, Glennis Yeager died of ovarian cancer in 1990. They had four children (Susan, Don, Mickey, and Sharon).MAGAZINE, Tresniowski, Alex,www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20149499,00.html, The Wife Stuff: Feuds, Trials & Lawsuits, Bills, Bills, Bills, Chuck Yeager,www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20149499,00.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20110809080730www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20149499,00.html,">web.archive.org/web/20110809080730www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20149499,00.html, August 9, 2011, People (American magazine), March 8, 2004, September 26, 2011, Yeager’s son Mickey (Michael) died unexpectedly in Oregon, on March 26, 2011.WEB,www.legacy.com/obituaries/registerguard/obituary.aspx?n=michael-yeager&pid=150109447, Michael Yeager (1947-2011)-obituary, Legacy.com, Yeager appeared in a Texas advertisement for George H. W. Bush’s 1988 presidential campaign.NEWS, Republicans Hire Chuck Yeager For Political Ads,apnews.com/article/1ea02f01f81e60598bc0b0853ec5e2fa, December 7, 2020, Associated Press, October 13, 1988, In 2000, Yeager met actress Victoria Scott D’Angelo on a hiking trail in Nevada County. The pair started dating shortly thereafter, and married in August 2003.WEB,www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Chuck-Yeager-is-in-love-Three-of-his-kids-doubt-2821681.php, Chuck Yeager is in love. Three of his kids doubt his new wife, who’s half his age, is made of the right stuff. They’re suing., Costantinou, Marianne, February 18, 2004, sfgate.com, February 6, 2020, A bitter dispute arose between Yeager, his children, and D’Angelo. The children contended that she, at least 35 years Yeager’s junior, had married him for his fortune. Yeager and D’Angelo both denied the charge. Litigation ensued, in which his children accused D’Angelo of “undue influence” on Yeager, and Yeager accused his children of diverting millions of dollars from his assets.WEB,www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-02-et-hubler2-story.html, Far from heavens, Hubler, Shawn, July 2, 2004, Los Angeles Times, February 6, 2020, In August 2008, the California Court of Appeal ruled for Yeager, finding that his daughter Susan had breached her duty as trustee.NEWS,www.metnews.com/articles/2008/yeag082608.htm, C.A. rules against Chuck Yeager’s daughter in dispute with stepmother,www.metnews.com/articles/2008/yeag082608.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20121218050222www.metnews.com/articles/2008/yeag082608.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20121218050222www.metnews.com/articles/2008/yeag082608.htm, December 18, 2012, MetNews, August 26, 2008, November 30, 2012, COURT,www.fearnotlaw.com/articles/article22023.html, Yeager v. D’Angelo,www.fearnotlaw.com/articles/article22023.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20121218073636www.fearnotlaw.com/articles/article22023.html,">web.archive.org/web/20121218073636www.fearnotlaw.com/articles/article22023.html, C052483, Cal.App.3rd, August 22, 2008, Yeager lived in Grass Valley, Northern California and died in the afternoon of December 7, 2020 (National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day), at age 97, in a Los Angeles hospital.NEWS,www.yahoo.com/news/video/chuck-yeager-made-history-breaking-121946785.html, Chuck Yeager, who made history for breaking the sound barrier, dies at 97, Yahoo!, Video, December 8, 2020, NEWS,www.cnn.com/2020/12/07/us/chuck-yeager-death/index.html, Chuck Yeager, pilot who broke the sound barrier, dies at 97, CNN, December 7, 2020, December 7, 2020, Muntean, Pete, Silverman, Hollie, Following his death, President Donald Trump issued a statement of condolences stating Yeager “was one of the greatest pilots in history, a proud West Virginian, and an American original who relentlessly pushed the boundaries of human achievement”.WEB,trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-regarding-passing-chuck-yeager/, Statement from the President Regarding the Passing of Chuck Yeager, Trump White House Archives, December 8, 2020, January 21, 2024,

See also

• History of aviation
• List of firsts in aviation
• Society of Experimental Test Pilots

Notes

{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

• BOOK, Hallion, Richard P., Designers and Test Pilots,archive.org/details/designerstestpil00hall, registration, New York, Time-Life Books, 1982, 0-8094-3316-8,
• BOOK, Yeager, Chuck, Charles, Leerhsen, Press on! Further Adventures in the Good Life, New York, Bantam Books, 1988, 0-553-05333-7,
• Wolfe, Tom The Right Stuff New York: Farrar-Straus-Giroux, 1979 {{ISBN|0-374-25033-2}}
• Yeager, Chuck, Bob Cardenas, Bob Hoover, Jack Russell and James Young The Quest for Mach One: A First-Person Account of Breaking the Sound Barrier New York: Penguin Studio, 1997 {{ISBN|0-670-87460-4}}
• Yeager, Chuck and Leo Janos, Yeager: An Autobiography New York: Bantam, 1985 {{ISBN|978-0-553-25674-1}}

External links

{{Commons}}

• {{official websitechuckyeager.com/}}
• Biography from ChuckYeager.org
• U.S. Air Force: Chuck Yeager biography
• Yeager in Biography.com
• Biography in the National Aviation Hall of Fame {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117010822www.nationalaviation.org/our-enshrinees/yeager-charles-chuck/ |date=January 17, 2021 }}
• General Chuck Yeager, USAF, Biography and Interview with the American Academy of Achievement
• {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060502161501www.edwards.af.mil/history/docs_html/people/yeager_biography.html|date=May 2, 2006|title=Biographical sketch}}
• Airport Journals’ “Chuck Yeager: Booming And Zooming” Part 1 and Part 2
• “Chuck Yeager & the Sound Barrier” in Aerospaceweb.org
• www.edwards.af.mil/history/docs_html/people/yeager_biography.html" title="web.archive.org/web/20060502161501www.edwards.af.mil/history/docs_html/people/yeager_biography.html">Space.com: Chuck Yeager
• {{IMDb name|0947015}}
• {{Discogs artist|Chuck Yeager}}
• Yeager obituary via The New York Times

{{Lists of flying aces}}{{Authority control}}{{Subject bar| portal1=Biography| portal2=Aviation| portal3=West Virginia| portal4=United States}}