Aviation Maintenance
Great Aviatrix, Pancho Barnes, in Chuck Yeager’s Own Words
I first met Pancho Barnes on my first trip to Muroc in 1945, when we were testing Shooting Stars. Pancho was 46 when I first met her. She had black hair and dark eyes, slim hips and broad shoulders. She would never use a 5 or 6 letter word when a four-letter word would do.…
Read MoreIn His Own Words: Emmett Hatch, black pilot, in Chuck Yeager’s Squadron 1950’s
In his own words from Yeager, An Autobiography pp 290-297: “The Air Force had only been integrated seven or eight years by the time I became a fighter pilot. I came up through the ranks as an enlisted man, the same as Chuck Yeager, but it wasn’t easy for me as a black man. There…
Read MoreNovember 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 MoreDECLASSIFIED-From Russia with Jackie Cochran – Yeager Oral History – Part 1
Parts of General Yeager’s Oral History with the Air Force have been declassified. Here is the first installment: Yeager: I was getting a little bit worried they were going to put her (Jackie Cochran) in jail. (laughter) I was about ready to go home anyway. So we whistled out of there to Spain and then…
Read MoreDECLASSIFIED – SQUADRON SEES RED: Chuck Yeager Oral History – Part 2
Recently declassified: General Yeager’s words: When I took the squadron to Italy, we had the four 50-gallon drop tanks. We were replacing a squadron that was at Myrtle Beach. Now Aviano had TACAN (tactical air navigation). So our deployment – that was when TAC came out and said, “Take all the squadron colors off the…
Read MoreBefore Testing the MiG 15 – Korea – Chuck Yeager
This evening this was one of many stories General Yeager related to me: While prepping to test the MiG in Korea, a staff car came up. Gen Boyd got out. Pouring w/rain. Gen Boyd to me: Come here I want you to meet somebody. It was a 4 star general. 4 star general to me:…
Read MoreThe Hell There Ain’t….
General Yeager told me this story July 10, 2013: Jack Ridley was itching to fly the X-1 after we succeeded in breaking the sound barrier. Finally, when he got his chance, he asked if I would fly chase. Almost every flight in the X-1 had an issue from electricity going out, to no radio, to…
Read More“Chuck, I can’t see in here!”
General Yeager: I never lost a pilot while flying chase, but there were many close calls. From Carl Bellinger: Flying chase was an art that not many test pilots bothered to perfect. There’s no glory flying chase – no goal assist, no brownie points. But a skilled and dedicated chase pilot often meant the difference…
Read MoreYeager Will Get it (P-80) Back (in one piece)
I wasn’t so thrilled when I was shot down to say the least, but because I survived and was an evadee, after the war, I got my pick of airbases. I chose Wright Field in Dayton, OH because it was the closest to home, Hamlin, West Virginia. There was an opening as Maintenance Officer in…
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