Chuck Yeager, first pilot to break the sound barrier, dies at 97

[bald_pig]

RIP, he was a pioneering pilot who helped advance flying technology.

 

https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/08/chuck_yeager_dies/

[Ketlane]

The Times has an excellent obit.

The night before the supersonic flight, Yeager and his colleagues spent the evening in the bar - beers and tequila. Then he and his wife went riding in the dark; coming back he rode into the stable yard gate which they'd left open, but was now closed. Briefly unconscious and two ribs broken. Refused to go to hospital, found a doc to patch him up. Found he couldn't close the access door to the X1; with help from the engineer he made a piece of broom handle into a lever to do it!

Flew in WW2, 13 kills inclusing ace-in-a-day, 5 Me109s. 127 sorties in the Vietnam war. Survived a spin at high alttitude in a F104 followed by ejecting. 1986 broke the propeller-driven record for coast to coast in the US - 5h 23min.

Last flew supersonic as a passenger in 2012 for the 50th anniversary.