Re: OT, Sad News


Message posted by Peter Merlin on December 08, 2020 at 8:19:57 PST:

I used to run into Yeager from time to time at Edwards. There is no question that he was a great pilot, and that his career was larger than life. He truly earned his place in the history books. That said, an encounter with him was usually the living embodiment of the old axiom, "Never meet your heroes." Let's just say he didn't leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy. (No, I won't be sharing any examples.)

So, I'll tell a different story in stead. Back in October 2011, I spent a few days with Yeager when he visited Edwards with a film crew. They dragged him all over the base and surrounding area, visiting paces that were significant to his life.

It took some convincing, but we eventually talked him into revisiting the site where he crashed the NF-104A Aerospace Trainer in 1963. It was interesting to be there and to hear the story firsthand from the pilot. That's a rare opportunity.

Yeager also visited the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center so he could be filmed while speaking in front of the X-1E and the M2-F1 lifting body vehicle. The center director pulled out all the stops to accommodate him and provide total access. At one point - when the cameras were not rolling, thank goodness - a young engineer asked Chuck what he thought about working with the NACA (NASA's predecessor) on the X-1 program. Now, it's well known that Yeager always felt the civilian agency's incremental approach to flight testing was far too timid for his tastes. So, he told the kid, "They were the most goddamn, chickenshit outfit I ever met." To be sure, it was his honest opinion, but probably not the most diplomatic thing to say under the circumstances.

On day, we took Yeager out onto the dry lake in a panel truck filled with camera gear. I though we were just going a little way but we drove for miles until you could scarcely see the hangers in the distance. We turned around, parked, and left Chuck standing in the middle of the lakebed. A technician attached a camera beneath the rear bumper, facing Chuck, and then we drove away. The great test pilot receded in the rear-view mirror until he was just a dot. In case you're wondering, the plan was to speed up and reverse the footage later to make it look like zooming in. We turned around and drove back to pick him up. Watching Yeager resolve out of the heat shimmer as we approached reminded me of the scene from "The Right Stuff" where the NF-104A has crashed and the recovery crew races out to see if the pilot survived. The ambulance driver spots him and asks, "Is that a man?" Jack Ridley replies, "Yeah, you damn right it is!"


In Reply to: OT, Sad News posted by Rodeo65 on December 07, 2020 at 19:34:56 PST:

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