Uncategorized – The Chuck Yeager Foundation

Water G Suits: “Sound Like a Couple of Active People in a Waterbed” — Chuck Yeager

By Victoria Yeager / August 15, 2024

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…

General Chuck Yeager – American Hero

By Victoria Yeager / April 26, 2024

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…

The Listeners by Walter De La Mare

By Victoria Yeager / March 26, 2022

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;…

Ultralights – There’s a time and a Place

By Victoria Yeager / March 24, 2022

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,…

General Yeager & General Robin Olds, Directors of Safety

By Victoria Yeager / March 17, 2022

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’…

Yeager’s Last World War II Mission – Missing the Biggest Battle of the Year

By Victoria Yeager / January 19, 2022

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…

Capt Chuck Yeager takes a vacay (vacation) in Switzerland during World War II

By Victoria Yeager / January 16, 2022

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…

General Curtis LeMay

By Victoria Yeager / December 24, 2021

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…

Gen Chuck Yeager: NF-104 incident: Scraped My Face Every Four Days

By Victoria Yeager / December 20, 2021

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…

General Yeager’s Salvation After World War II: the High Sierras

By Victoria Yeager / November 13, 2021

General Chuck Yeager’s words: “I’d seen the Alps and the Pyrenees from the air, and I’d watched the sun come up on the Atlantic Ocean-but I was truly taken aback by the spectacular beauty of the Sierras. I guess I’d finally found the Shangri-la I’d been looking for. I’ve never smoked or chewed tobacco, and…

What to do???? Without Pitch Control, Can’t Break the Sound Barrier

By Victoria Yeager / October 10, 2021

Jack Ridley sat at the corner of the conference table scribbling little notes and equations. He said, “Well, maybe Chuck can fly without using the elevator. Maybe he can get by using only the horizontal stabilizer.” The stabilizer was the winglike structure on the tail that stabilized pitch control. Bell’s engineers had purposely built into…

End of the Line – Looking Like Can’t Break Sound Barrier

By Victoria Yeager / October 6, 2021

In General Yeager’s words: On our next flight, October 8, 1947; we got knocked on our fannies. I was flying at .94 MACH at 40,000 feet, experiencing the usual buffeting when I pulled back on the control wheel and Christ, nothing happened. The airplane continued flying with the same attitude and in the same direction.…