Victoria Yeager
Water G Suits: “Sound Like a Couple of Active People in a Waterbed” — Chuck Yeager
Captain Chuck Yeager, stationed at Leiston Air Base in England during World War II, tested all sorts of items before he became a test pilot. His 357th Fighter Group were among the first to get the P-51s and one of the squadrons that tested one of the first (anti-) G-suits based on water. “G”s are…
Read More
General Chuck Yeager – American Hero
General Yeager is one of the greatest aviators that ever lived. His commitment to service, duty, love of his country, his flag are evident in all that he did during active duty and beyond. He was and continues to be a great inspiration and role model. General Yeager often said he was born so far…
Read More
The Right Stuff & Chuck Yeager’s NF-104 incident
General Yeager wrote the NF-104 part in The Right Stuff. Tom Wolfe wasn’t quite getting it from their interview. The production team asked General Yeager to re-enact his NF-104 flat spin scene. He had choice words for them which ended in an emphatic “No! Anyone who tries will kill themselves.” Then Col Yeager felt he…
Read MoreThe Listeners by Walter De La Mare
The Listeners BY WALTER DE LA MARE ‘Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller, Knocking on the moonlit door; And his horse in the silence champed the grasses Of the forest’s ferny floor: And a bird flew up out of the turret, Above the Traveller’s head: And he smote upon the door again a second time;…
Read More
Ultralights – There’s a time and a Place
I like ultralights – flew one in Australia. But there is a time and a place regarding safety. My late husband, General Chuck Yeager’s last active duty assignment was as Director of Safety. He saved millions of lives. APPEAL DEMOCRAT NEWSPAPER March 24, 2022 EXCERPT and photo: Victoria Yeager, widow of legendary pilot Chuck Yeager,…
Read More
General Yeager & General Robin Olds, Directors of Safety
Brig General Robin Olds, considered a handsome man with a dashing mustache, was a highly regarded triple Ace from World War II and Vietnam. General Yeager and he served at the same time in Vietnam. One of General Yeager’s later encounters with General Olds, General Yeager’s predecessor as Director of Safety, was when General Olds’…
Read More
Yeager’s Last World War II Mission – Missing the Biggest Battle of the Year
Jan 15, 1945 Yeager’s buddy was the scheduler and had scheduled Yeager and himself as spares that day – Yeager’s 61st and last WWII mission. No one aborted so Yeager led his buddy on a tour of southern France where he had been shot down, Lake Annecy, Geneva and then to Switzerland. They each dropped their…
Read MoreCapt Chuck Yeager takes a vacay (vacation) in Switzerland during World War II
December 1944: A few weeks before Christmas, I received an unexpected vacation from the British. Group sent me off to Switzerland. The assignment was so hush hush I wasn’t even told why I was going. I flew over to Lyon where we now had advanced fighter bases, and was driven over the Alps to Lake…
Read MoreGeneral Curtis LeMay
In General Chuck Yeager’s words: “The Chief of Staff was General Curtis LeMay, probably the most controversial personality in the Air Force since his days as the tough, cigar-chewing head of SAC. National Museum of the USAF “I knew him pretty well. I remember briefing him at SAC headquarters after I had tested the MiG…
Read MoreGen Chuck Yeager: NF-104 incident: Scraped My Face Every Four Days
Then the chopper came for me. I remember the medics running up. I asked them, “Can you do something for my hand? It’s just killing me.” They gave me a shot of morphine through my pressure suit. They couldn’t get the pressure suit off because it had to be zipped all the way down, and…
Read More