William Prescott
Continental army soldier (1726-1795)
American World War II flying ace and test pilot; first pilot to fly faster than sound
Chuck Yeager was a legendary American pilot who broke the sound barrier and set numerous speed and altitude records. He served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, and is considered one of the greatest pilots of all time. Yeager’s incredible career spanned over 70 years and included flying more than 360 different types of aircraft.
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About the Chuck Yeager
Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeagerwas a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight.
Yeager was raised in Hamlin, West Virginia. His career began in World War II as a private in the United States Army, assigned to the Army Air Forces in 1941. After serving as an aircraft mechanic, in September 1942, he entered enlisted pilot training and upon graduation was promoted to the rank of flight officer (the World War II Army Air Force version of the Army’s warrant officer), later achieving most of his aerial victories as a P-51 Mustang fighter pilot on the Western Front, where he was credited with shooting down 11.5 enemy aircraft (the half credit is from a second pilot assisting him in a single shootdown). On October 12, 1944, he attained “ace in a day” status, shooting down five enemy aircraft in one mission.
After the war, Yeager became a test pilot and flew many types of aircraft, including experimental rocket-powered aircraft for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Through the NACA program, he became the first human to officially break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, when he flew the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 ft (13,700 m), for which he won both the Collier and Mackay trophies in 1948. He then went on to break several other speed and altitude records in the following years. In 1962, he became the first commandant of the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School, which trained and produced astronauts for NASA and the Air Force.
Yeager later commanded fighter squadrons and wings in Germany, as well as in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. 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. His three-war active-duty flying career spanned more than 30 years and took him to many parts of the world, including the Korean War zone and the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War.
Yeager is referred to by many as one of the greatest pilots of all time, and was ranked fifth on Flying’s list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation in 2013. 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Chuck Yeager was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight.
Chuck Yeager was raised in Hamlin, West Virginia and began his career as a private in the United States Army, assigned to the Army Air Forces in 1941. He later became a flight officer and a P-51 Mustang fighter pilot, where he was credited with shooting down 11.5 enemy aircraft during World War II.
On October 14, 1947, Chuck Yeager became the first human to officially break the sound barrier when he flew the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 feet, for which he won both the Collier and Mackay trophies in 1948.
In addition to breaking the sound barrier, Chuck Yeager went on to break several other speed and altitude records in the following years. He later commanded fighter squadrons and wings in Germany, as well as in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.
Chuck Yeager’s active-duty flying career spanned more than 30 years and took him to many parts of the world, including the Korean War zone and the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War. He continued to fly for two decades after retirement as a consultant pilot for the United States Air Force.
In recognition of his achievements and the outstanding performance ratings of the units he commanded, Chuck Yeager was promoted to brigadier general in 1969 and inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1973.
Throughout his life, Chuck Yeager flew more than 360 different types of aircraft over a 70-year period, making him one of the most experienced and versatile pilots in history.
9 Quotes by Chuck Yeager
- 1.
Never wait for trouble.
Chuck YeagerAmerican World War II flying ace and test pilot; first pilot to fly faster than sound
- 2.
You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can’t, you do the next best thing. You back up but you don’t give up.
Chuck YeagerAmerican World War II flying ace and test pilot; first pilot to fly faster than sound
- 3.
Rules are made for people who aren’t willing to make up their own.
Chuck YeagerAmerican World War II flying ace and test pilot; first pilot to fly faster than sound
- 4.
Most pilots learn, when they pin on their wings and go out and get in a fighter, especially, that one thing you don’t do, you don’t believe anything anybody tells you about an airplane.
Chuck YeagerAmerican World War II flying ace and test pilot; first pilot to fly faster than sound
- 5.
There’s no such thing as a natural-born pilot.
Chuck YeagerAmerican World War II flying ace and test pilot; first pilot to fly faster than sound
- 6.
If you want to grow old as a pilot, you’ve got to know when to push it, and when to back off.
Chuck YeagerAmerican World War II flying ace and test pilot; first pilot to fly faster than sound
- 7.
You don’t concentrate on risks. You concentrate on results. No risk is too great to prevent the necessary job from getting done.
Chuck YeagerAmerican World War II flying ace and test pilot; first pilot to fly faster than sound
- 8.
I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the cockpit.
Chuck YeagerAmerican World War II flying ace and test pilot; first pilot to fly faster than sound
- 9.
Later, I realized that the mission had to end in a let-down because the real barrier wasn’t in the sky but in our knowledge and experience of supersonic flight.
Chuck YeagerAmerican World War II flying ace and test pilot; first pilot to fly faster than sound