I hate to be saying goodbye to Chuck Yeager

[Chainfire]

As an adolescent, he was one of my top-notch heroes. He was the kind of tough, smart, cool guy a lot of us boys wanted to be. Yea, we wanted to be knuckle draggers, after, at an earlier age, we wanted to be cowboys.....In his honor, I am going to have to pull out and dust off his book, I could use a little, Flying and drinking, drinking and driving, driving and screwing. What better hero could a boy have?

One of the most accomplished flyers in the history of aviation. And the Greatest Generation continues to rush into history.

Goodbye Chuck Yeager, Fly in peace!

[nocoincidences]

1. I hope somebody slipped

a stick of Beeman's into his coffin.

[Docreed2003]

2. Beat me to it

Was gonna say...got any Beeman's?

[KT2000]

3. In Seattle - all the boys

wanted to be like him. My guy friend/neighbor met him when visiting his Dad's friend's house and I believe that was the highlight of his life. Cowboy is the correct term for him. Here is his son on the barrel roll:

[crickets]

14. That's amazing. Wow. nt

[42bambi]

4. My hubby is a retired Air Force Officer - he was a dentist and while he

was at Brooks AFB in San Antonio, he had a patient come in for a cleaning with the name of Chuck Yeager, so my hubby asked him if he was the "Chuck Yeager" and his patient chuckled and said, yes I am. Hubby said he was honored to meet him and I'll be extra careful not to hurt you. They both had a good laugh over that.
Rest in Peace Chuck.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. A Special Memory

That's so cool!

[FirstLight]

6. An old friend once told me this story, and it has been a beacon for my life...

BAck when they were trying to break the sound barrier, a few pilots had gone up before him...and every time they came close breaking the barrier, the plane would shake violently, so the pilots would ease off the gas and they'd usually break up...

Chuck yeager got his turn, and as he neared the barrier the shaking started up... he did the exact opposite and PUNCHED IT

and *poof* right through the sound barrier!


So whenever you are in a place in your life where you are up against the wall and feels like everything is gonna break up...think:

"Punch it, Chuck Yeager!" ...and you will fly right on through!

[Cracklin Charlie]

8. Reminds me of something a wise woman* always tells me, when I call for advice...

“Be not afraid”

Fear paralyzes you. Must push (punch) through it.

* my mother in law. She is the best!

[Chainfire]

10. Yeager was a brilliant engineer,

He made it his business to understand everything he flew better than the ones who designed it. For a test pilot from that era to live to be 97 says a lot about how smart he was.

[Cracklin Charlie]

7. I don't believe that man wasted one moment of his life.

Rest In Peace

[Blue Owl]

9. Chuck Yeager didn't need aroma therapy to break the sound barrier

That was a line by the host of "Let's Bowl" -- an old Comedy Central TV bowling game show. I don't know why I found it so funny but it still makes me laugh today!

[yonder]

11. While in the Air Force, my dad had him as a CO.

He always spoke of him with a ton of respect and his tough guy, git-r-done style.

[pecosbob]

12. I sort of grew up in the middle of the film 'The Right Stuff'

My dad worked at NASA from it's very beginning...a Korean War Navy vet with just a bit of electronics engineering in his pocket. I met a lot of those people when hanging out with my dad. Cowboys that knew how to use a slide rule...

[Ilsa]

16. I used a slide rule in high school.

My husband, just a few years younger, never did. Amazing devices. Slide rules rule!

[Happy Hoosier]

13. An old test pilot joke...

I’ve been involved with flight test and test pilots for a long time. Standard Test Pilot joke:

Chuck Yeager is the best test pilot to ever live! Just ask him!!!!

Rest in peace chuck! You trod where few dared to go!

[Chainfire]

15. Well, confidence is part of the requirements for a successful test pilot! ;)

[Happy Hoosier]

17. Yup. And few pack that quality!

But like you said... part of the job. I try to never ask them to do something I wouldn’t do myself in their place.