Adventures with Chuck
1947: 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…
Read MoreMarch 26, 1944: Pyrenees Foothills: AVOID border Spanish-might sell us to Gestapo
The moment I hop in the back, the truck takes off. There are four or five other guys seated on the benches, and nobody says a word. mainly because they are too busy hanging on while the driver barrels down twisting backstreets, doing fifty or better. I hear the guy seated next to me mutter,…
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