Chuck Yeager, first pilot to break sound barrier, dead at 97
Col. Charles "Chuck" Yeager. (NASA photo)
NEW YORK - Chuck Yeager, the historic test pilot portrayed in the movie "The Right Stuff," has died, according to a tweet posted on his account late Monday. He was 97.
"It is w/ profound sorrow, I must tell you that my life love General Chuck Yeager passed just before 9pm ET," said the tweet, attributed to his wife, actress Victoria Scott D'Angelo. "An incredible life well lived, America’s greatest Pilot, & a legacy of strength, adventure, & patriotism will be remembered forever."
The legendary pilot became the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound on Oct. 14, 1947, at the controls of the X-1 experimental rocket plane.
In 1941, he enlisted as a private in the Army Air Forces and served as a mechanic. He was later trained as a pilot, promoted to flight officer, and flew combat missions in World War II. After the war, he became a test pilot.
He later received widespread recognition because of Tom Wolfe's book "The Right Stuff," and the movie based on it.
Yeager retired from the Air Force as a brigadier general.
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Retired Gen. Charles "Chuck" Yeager smiles at the crowd during the 2018 Salute To Our Veterans and First Responders Air Show in Charleston, West Virginia Oct. 14, 2018. (West Virginia National Guard photo)
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Charles E. (Chuck) Yeager enlisted in the U.S. Air Force (then the U.S. Army Air Forces) in 1941 at the age of eighteen. He worked as an aircraft mechanic and pilot before going over the Atlantic to fight in World War II. Upon returning from war, he entered test pilot school and so impressed his superiors that he was selected to fly the X-1 from over 125 senior pilots. On October 14, 1947, Yeager broke the sound barrier over the town of Victorville, California. Six years later, on another test flight, Yeager pushed his plane, the X-1A, to new heights, but almost lost his life as his plane came within feet of crashing. During the fifties, he flew several experimental aircraft for the Air Force and investigated various accidents. In 1960 he was appointed director of the Space School at Edwards Air Force Base. He went to Vietnam as a wing commander in 1966 and flew over 120 combat missions. In 1986, Yeager was appointed to the Presidential Commission investigating the Challenger accident.
The X-1 experimental aircraft. (NASA photo)