Charlie and I send our heartfelt condolences to the Yeager family during this difficult time., What West Virginians Need to Know About COVID-19. Chuck Yeager, 1st to break sound barrier, dead at 97 - CBS19 Yeager's most notable achievement was piloting the X-1 experimental rocket plane, in which he became the first human to fly faster than the speed of sound in 1947, shortly after the founding of the U.S. Air Force as a separate service. Chuck Yeager, pilot who broke the sound barrier, dies at 97 While airplanes had long had the power to achieve great speeds, changes in aerodynamic design allowed pilots such as Gen. Yeager to overcome the problems of supersonic air flow as they approached the speed of sound. His exploits were told in Tom Wolfes book The Right Stuff, and the 1983 film it inspired. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. The public was only told about the mission in June 1948. Yeager was awarded the 1953 Harmon International Trophy by President Dwight D. Eisenhower for breaking the record. He then returned to operational flying in 1954, taking over command of the 417th Fighter Bomber Squadron and being stationed at Hahn Air Base in Germany, and then at Toul-Rosires Air Base in France. In March 1944, while on his eighth mission, he was shot down over German-occupied France. Yeager broke the sound barrier when he tested the X-1 in October 1947, although the feat was not announced to the public until 1948. I personally met this incredible man. His second wife, Victoria, confirmed to CNN Monday night that Yeager had passed after she tweeted from Yeagers verified Twitter account that the World War II flying ace had died. His wife, Victoria, announced the death from Gen. Yeagers official Twitter account. . In 2003, Gen. Yeager married Victoria Scott DAngelo, who was 36years his junior. His success in breaking the sound barrier launched America into the supersonic age. (AP Photo/Douglas C . Yeager was never a quitter, Nicoletti recalled of his friend. Chuck Yeager Dies: First Person To Break The Sound Barrier - Yahoo! Famed test pilot, retired Brig. Pursuing a return to combat duty, Gen. Yeager climbed his way up the military hierarchy, being passed around among colonels and generals who enjoyed meeting a very junior officer who refused to go home, he said in his autobiography. COVID-19 Map. Published: Oct. 27, 2022 at 12:08 PM PDT. Chuck Yeager, U.S. Pilot Who Broke the Sound Barrier, Dies at 97 He was a WWII Fighter Ace, a fighter pilot, and was the first person to fly faster than Mach . 2022 BBC. Were Russian soldiers shot after surrendering? To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. By December, enough information had been leaked to allow Aviation Week to publish a story. 2022 Cable News Network. (R-W.Va.) today issued the below statement following the death of Brigadier General Chuck Yeager: "Most people know Chuck Yeager as the pilot who broke the sound barrier. On 14 October 1947, Yeager's plane - nicknamed Glamorous Glennis, in honour of his first wife - was dropped from the bomb bay of a B-29 aircraft above the Mojave Desert in the south-western US. In 1997, at age 74, Yeager commemorated the 50th anniversary of his milestone flight in the X-1, by flying in an F-15 Eagle. Nor was he impressed with the interpretation of history in the film adaptation. A cause of death has not yet been released. Chuck Yeager, who has died aged 97, stands alongside the Wright Brothers and Charles Lindbergh in the history of American aviation. He was 97. General Yeager represents the best of us. He was an incredibly courageous man.. Chuck Yeager, WWII test pilot who broke the sound barrier, dies at 97 Yeager's death on Monday in Los Angeles at the age of 97 is yet another passing from what has become known as the Greatest Generation, the men and women who fought in World War II and came home . Chuck Yeager, World War II ace and first pilot to break sound barrier All Rights Reserved. Chuck Yeager, first pilot to break sound barrier, dies at 97 The government didnt confirm the flight until close to six months later, and even then, Gen. Yeager had been coached to reveal few details of what happened when he reached Mach 1 (named after the Austrian physicist Ernst Mach). Col. Boyd chose Yeager to be the first to fly the rocket-powered Bell X-1. "When you're fooling around with something you don't know much about, there has to be . To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. Aged 24, he flew the experimental rocket-powered Bell X-1 - which he named Glamorous Glennis after his then-wife - at supersonic speed in October 1947. 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. US Air Force officer and test pilot Chuck Yeager, known as the fastest man alive, has died at the age of 97. But, as he would say in his 1985 memoir, once the X-1 exceeded Mach 1, the ride was as smooth as a babys bottom., Anybody can fly faster than sound as long as he wants to so far as the physical effects are concerned, the Associated Press quoted Gen. Yeager as saying in 1949. Chuck Yeager: First pilot to fly supersonic dies aged 97 Following the war, Yeager became a flight instructor and a test pilot, working as an assistant maintenance officer in the Fighter Section of the Flight Test Division at Wright Field in Ohio. For his prowess in flight, Gen. Yeager became one of the great American folk heroes of the 1940s and 1950s. Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier in 1947, poses in front of the rocket-powered Bell X-IE plane that he flew at Edwards Air Force Base on Sept. 4, 1985. He was 97. The Bell X-1 was propelled by a four-chamber rocket engine and a volatile mix of ethyl alcohol, water and liquid oxygen, and Gen. Yeager named it Glamorous Glennis after his first wife. "An incredible life well lived, America's greatest Pilot, & a legacy of strength, adventure, & patriotism will be remembered forever," his wife wrote on Monday. Global death toll from COVID-19 tops 2M amid vaccine rollout Editorial: Chuck Yeager proved he had the 'right stuff' Submit Your Photos and Videos. Read about our approach to external linking. In 1943, Yeager was commissioned a reserve flight officer before becoming a pilot in the fighter command of the Eight Air Force stationed in England. Summary: Retired Air Force Brig. Yeager's success was later immortalised in the Tom Wolfe book The Right Stuff, and a subsequent film of the same name. Chuck Yeager, test pilot who broke sound barrier, dies at 97 For his wartime service, Gen. Yeager received the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart and the Air Medal. By the end of the war, he was a fighter ace credited with shooting down at least 12 German planes, including five in one day. Read about our approach to external linking. Investigate TV. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine described the death as a "tremendous loss to our nation.". He retired as an Air Force brigadier general in 1975, although in an honorary gesture, he was promoted to the rank of major general in 2005. In one piece, or a whole lot of pieces, he told Time magazine in 1949. Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager ( / jer / YAY-gr, February 13, 1923 - December 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight. Many didnt make it through World War II. He added in his autobiography years later that he had no interest in being an astronaut, as they were little more than Spam in the can, throwing the right switches on instructions from the ground.. Sign up to Klinsmann's daily World Cup newsletter. Not that Gen. Yeagers career lacked its frightening moments. I just wanted to meet two guys who think theyre getting a raw deal being sent home, Eisenhower told Gen. Yeager and another pilot who had evaded capture in Holland, Gen.Yeager recalled in his book. The airport that serves Charleston, West Virginia, is named after Chuck Yeager. With the advent of jets and rockets as well, every country was trying to push the limits of technology.. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. After World War II, Gen. Yeager served as a flight instructor in Texas before becoming a test pilot at Wright Field in Ohio. After months of flights with the X-1, Yeager broke the sound barrier with his aircraft, which he named the Glamorous Glennis on October 14, 1947, over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California. Circle - Country Music & Lifestyle. "An incredible life well lived, Americas greatest Pilot, & a legacy of strength, adventure, & patriotism will be remembered forever.". CNN . 2. My son Charles, celebrating his fifth birthday that day, was totally in awe, as we all were. 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