Victoria Yeager
November 23, 1943: Off to war. And England.
November 23, 1943: Off to war. In General Chuck Yeager’s words: We got on the Queen Elizabeth to cross the Atlantic Ocean to war. There were 25,000 – one third a-sleeping, one third a-eating, one third a-puking. Then we switched every 8 hours. One guy asked, “Aren’t you feeling okay?” The other one said, “What?…
Read More1947: Recording the Shock Wave on the X-1
Ridley put holes in the horizontal stabilizer and connected them to a recorder. Each flight he could see what the shock wave was doing. c. GCYI
Read MoreBroken Ribs Before Breaking the Sound Barrier
October 12-13, 1947: In Chuck Yeager’s own words: Sunday night (October 12, 1947), after eating dinner at Pancho’s, Glennis and I decided to go riding. Glennis suggested a race back to the corral. As I got very close, in the lead, I saw someone had closed the gate. My horse and I pulled about 3…
Read MoreIt Has a Handbook Doesn’t It? F-100 and Crossfield
I had flown the F-100 a lot and had delivered one to Scott Crossfield to fly. I asked him if he wanted me to check him out. No, it has a handbook, doesn’t it? said Crossfield arrogantly. Me: Be my guest. And I walked out. A few days later, Paul Bickle, Assistant Chief of the…
Read MoreMarch 1944 – Escaping the Germans – Pyrenees – Slow Going
Exhausted from climbing for 2 days and a night in three foot thick snow, close in trees, not much to eat, we fell asleep in a hut we came upon. It seemed like minutes later when we heard gunfire. The Germans had spotted the other guys socks he had hung out to dry. Shoot, then…
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