His first wife, the former Glennis Dickhouse, with whom he had four children, died in 1990. Gen. Charles "Chuck" Yeager, the World War II fighter pilot ace and quintessential test pilot who showed he had the "right stuff" when in. [14], Stationed in the United Kingdom at RAF Leiston, Yeager flew P-51 Mustangs in combat with the 363d Fighter Squadron. He was 97. He passed away on December 7, Pearl Harbor Day, with not enough fanfare. "Gen. Yeager's pioneering and innovative spirit . Yeager was a rare aviator, someone who understood planes in ways that other pilots just don't. [77] Sam Shepard portrayed Yeager in the film, which chronicles in part his famous 1947 record-breaking flight. Chuck Yeager, a folksy, hard-living daredevil who was the first aviator to break the sound barrier and became a symbol of bravery for generations of test pilots, astronauts and average Americans . You do it because it's duty. Yeager enlisted in the Army Air Corps after graduating from high school in 1941. And he understood that, just because he understood machines so well. An incredible life well lived, Americas greatest Pilot, & a legacy of strength, adventure, & patriotism will be remembered forever, she wrote. He was, he said in his autobiography Yeager (1985, with Leo Janos), the guy who broke the sound barrier the kid who swam the Mud River with a swiped watermelon, or shot the head off a squirrel before breakfast. And he was also the guy who got patronised by officers who looked down their noses at my ways and accent or pegged him as dumb and down-home. He helped pave the way for the American space program by flying at Mach 1.05 roughly 805 mph at an altitude of 45,000 feet. [50][51] Returning to Muroc, during the latter half of 1953, Yeager was involved with the USAF team that was working on the X-1A, an aircraft designed to surpass Mach 2 in level flight. Anyone can read what you share. General Yeager came out of the West Virginia hills with only a high school education and with a drawl that left many a fellow pilot bewildered. Legendary test pilot and World War II fighter ace Gen. Charles E. Yeager died Monday night, according to a tweet released by his wife Victoria. . [52], The new record flight, however, did not entirely go to plan, since shortly after reaching Mach 2.44, Yeager lost control of the X-1A at about 80,000ft (24,000m) due to inertia coupling, a phenomenon largely unknown at the time. In this Sept. 4, 1985, file photo, Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier in 1947, poses at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in front of the rocket-powered Bell X-IE plane that he . Other pilots who have been suggested as unproven possibilities to have exceeded the sound barrier before Yeager were all flying in a steep dive for the supposed occurrence. Yeager married 45-year-old Victoria Scott DAngelo in 2003. Chuck Yeager, 1st to break sound barrier, dies at 97 - WTOK 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Escaping via resistance networks to Spain, he was back in England by May, and resumed flying. This story has been shared 104,452 times. He was 97. Yeager nicknamed the plane "Glamourous Glennis" after his wife. [84] The chase plane for the flight was an F-16 Fighting Falcon piloted by Bob Hoover, a longtime test, fighter, and aerobatic pilot who had been Yeager's wingman for the first supersonic flight. Norm Healey was visiting from Canada and reading about Yeager's accomplishments. He even lobbied to change one of the plane's control surfaces so that it could safely exceed Mach 1. Throughout his life, he flew more than 360 different types of aircraft over a 70-year period, and continued to fly for two decades after retirement as a consultant pilot for the United States Air Force. One of the world's most famous aviators has died: Chuck Yeager best known as the first to break the sound barrier died at the age of 97. He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985. [86] Later that month, he was the recipient of the Tony Jannus Award for his achievements. Chuck Yeager was America's most decorated pilot, Chuck Yeager - who was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1973 - kept flying in his later years, 'Trump or bust' - grassroots Republicans are still loyal. In his autobiography, Yeager wrote that he knew the lake bed was unsuitable for landings after recent rains, but Armstrong insisted on flying out anyway. The children contended that D'Angelo, at least 35 years Yeager's junior, had married him for his fortune. In 2000, Yeager met actress Victoria Scott D'Angelo on a hiking trail in Nevada County. [75] Yeager was incensed over the incident and demanded U.S. There he flew 127 missions. Throughout his life, Yeager set numerous other flight records. Gen. Chuck Yeager, first person to break the sound barrier, dies at 97 He left Muroc in 1954 and in that decade and the 1960s, he held commands in Germany, France, Spain and the US. Glennis Dickhouse was pilot Chuck Yeager's wife of 45 years. Ive flown 341 types of military planes in every country in the world and logged about 18,000 hours, he said in an interview in the January 2009 issue of Mens Journal. WASHINGTON - Chuck Yeager, a World War II fighter ace who was the first human to travel faster than sound and whose gutsy test pilot exploits were immortalised in the bestselling book "The. [81], During this time, Yeager also served as a technical adviser for three Electronic Arts flight simulator video games. Chuck Yeager, 1st to break sound barrier, dies at 97 It was not until 10 June 1948 that the US finally announced its success, but Yeager was already soaring towards myth. It might sound funny, but Ive never owned an airplane in my life. Warner Bros./ Courtesy: Everett Collection. Yeager would get back to base. Supersonic pioneer Chuck Yeager passes away at 97 | News | Flight Global Aviation pioneer Charles 'Chuck' Yeager passed away on 7 December at the age of 97. Chuck Yeager, standing next to the "Glamorous Glennis," the Bell X-1 experimental plane with which he first broke the sound barrier. The first time he went up in a plane, he was sick to his stomach. Pence to escort widow of Chuck Yeager to funeral Such was the difficulty of this task that the answer to many of the inherent challenges was along the lines of "Yeager better have paid-up insurance". After World War II, he became a test pilot beginning at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Chuck Yeager, 1st pilot to break the sound barrier, is dead at 97 [82], In 2009, Yeager participated in the documentary The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club, a profile of his friend Pancho Barnes. Sam Shepard received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Yeager in the 1983 film. He enjoyed spins and dives and loved staging mock dogfights with his fellow trainees. A message posted to his Twitter account says, "Fr @VictoriaYeage11 It is w/ profound sorrow, I must tell you that my life love General Chuck Yeager passed just before 9pm ET. In recognition of his achievements and the outstanding performance ratings of those units, he was promoted to brigadier general in 1969 and inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1973, retiring on March 1, 1975. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, Air Materiel Command Flight Performance School, Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer 2.0, The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Air Force Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon, South Korean Order of National Security Merit, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation, "Chuck Yeager, Test Pilot Who Broke the Sound Barrier, Is Dead at 97", "Four-Year-Old Boy Kills Baby Sister with Gun", https://archive.org/details/yeagerautobiogra00yeag/page/6, "Jeana Yeager Was Not Just Along for the Ride", "Chuck Yeager downs five becomes an 'Ace in a Day', "Escape and Evasion Case File for Flight Officer Charles (Chuck) E. Yeager", "The Story of Chuck Yeager, the Pilot Who Broke the Sound Barrier", "Chuck Yeager: Booming And Zooming (Part 1)", "WWII flying ace Chuck Yeager in extraordinary attack on 'nasty' and 'arrogant' British people", "Getting schooled with the Air Force's elite test pilots", "New U.S. In a tweet, Victoria Yeager wrote: "It is w/ profound sorrow, I must tell you that my life love General Chuck Yeager passed just before 9pm ET.". He was also a key supporter of the Marshall University's Society of Yeager Scholars, which was named in his honor. And in this 1985 NPR interview, he said it was really no big deal: "Well, sure, because I'd spun airplanes all my life and that's exactly what I did. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager, a military test pilot who was the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound and live to tell about it, died Dec. 7 in Los Angeles. Gen. Chuck Yeager, along with his remains, to his funeral in West . Chuck Yeager, the steely "Right Stuff" test pilot who took aviation to the doorstep of space by becoming the first person to break the sound barrier more than 70 years ago, died on Monday at. He said, You dont concentrate on risks. What's the least exercise we can get away with? It was a matter of keeping them from falling apart, Yeager said. No risk is too great to prevent the necessary job from getting done,' Bridenstine said in a statement. His father was an oil and gas driller and a farmer. He enlisted in the Army Air Forces out of high school in September 1941, becoming an airplane mechanic. Video'Trump or bust' - grassroots Republicans are still loyal, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter'. Chuck Yeager, the most famous test pilot of his generation who was the first to break the sound barrier, and, thanks to Tom Wolfe, came to personify the death-defying aviator who possessed the . General Yeagerpreparing to board an F-15D Eagle in 2012. [63], Yeager was promoted to brigadier general and was assigned in July 1969 as the vice-commander of the Seventeenth Air Force. Brig. Sixty-five years later to the minute, on Oct. 14, 2012, Yeager commemorated the feat, flying in the back seat of an F-15 Eagle as it broke the sound barrier at more than 30,000 feet (9,144 meters . Renowned test pilot Chuck Yeager dies Published Dec. 9, 2020 By 412th Test Wing Public Affairs EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) -- Famed test pilot, retired Brig. (AP Photo/Douglas C . [48] During 1952, he attended the Air Command and Staff College. But you dont let that affect your job., The modest Yeager said in 1947 he could have gone even faster had the plane carried more fuel. [65][76], On March 1, 1975, following assignments in West Germany and Pakistan, Yeager retired from the Air Force at Norton Air Force Base, California. Yeager's wife, Victoria, paid tribute on Twitter. AP He was 97. Yeager died Monday, his wife, Victoria Yeager, said on his Twitter account: "It is w/ profound sorrow, I must tell you that my life love General Chuck Yeager passed just before 9 pm ET.