CA – The Chuck Yeager Foundation

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.…

Chuck Yeager & M2-F1 Lifting Body

By Victoria Yeager / December 3, 2017

Chuck Yeager flew the M2-F1 Lifting Body 5 times: Vehicle Date Pilot Velocity Altitude Comments M2-F1 #18 Dec 3, 1963 Yeager 240 3,650 Duration 00:01:35 M2-F1 #25 Jan 29, 1964 Yeager 240 3,650 1st flight of the day M2-F1 #26 Jan 29, 1964 Yeager 240 3,650 2nd flight of the day M2-F1 #27 Jan 30, 1964…

Broken Ribs Before Breaking the Sound Barrier

By Victoria Yeager / October 13, 2014

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…

Capt Yeager meets Howard Hughes

By Victoria Yeager / September 13, 2014

General Yeager in his own words: “I read this today: ‘Sept 13, 1935 – Aviator Howard Hughes, Jr., of Houston, set a new airspeed record of 352 mph with his H-1 airplane (Winged Bullet).’ Hughes helped design and flew the Spruce Goose. Once. November 2, 1947. History re that is here: The Largest Flying Boat…

B-51 – Chuck Yeager & Russ Schleeh

By Victoria Yeager / May 17, 2014

Even Col Boyd never got to fly it – although he wanted to do so, he never found the time. In the ’50s, I used to fly it cross country to get home to Hamlin – speedy for its day. Three engines. Russ Schleeh and I were two of the first to fly it. Only…

Chuck Yeager – F-100D

By Victoria Yeager / April 30, 2014

I usually flew 6590 – a two seater. He could do the flight planning….and I could fly. But this was a single seater. c. GCYI

Yaw Damper & Snaking Discussion re F-86, F-104, Century Series

By Victoria Yeager / February 7, 2014

Question from a top engineering historian: I have been doing some research into specific airplanes, one of which is the production F-86A and later models. In two different places I came across engineers casually discussing the in flight high-speed ‘snaking’ motion of the F-86. One North American engineer just said ‘. . . the snaking…

Visiting Jackie Cochran. Fellow guest: President Johnson

By Victoria Yeager / February 1, 2014

One weekend I was at Jackie Cochran’s in Indio, California, near Palm Springs. President Johnson was also visiting. Jackie invited him to go for a ride around the ranch. When they returned, Floyd Odlum, her husband, was livid: You don’t drive the President around. He has secret service and all sorts of people who need…

General Yeager Recollects B-47 & Gen Ascani

By Victoria Yeager / January 13, 2014

I used to fly from Wright Field to Edwards with a few stops along the way – Oklahoma City, OK, then Alberquerque, New Mexico. One time I flew a B-47 into New Mexico. General Ascani needed a ride. When he saw I was flying the bomber alone, he sputtered: Where’s your co-pilot? Me: I don’t…