Anyone hear that bang yesterday?

enuff_zed

enuff_zed

Lifer
 Attleborough, Norfolk
Chuck Yeager, first man to break the sound barrier, died yesterday, aged 97.
Another pioneer gone.
 
I think only a man with an RAF/aeronautical background would have known that name. Great achievement though! :thumbsup:
 
That's sad news, although 97 is good going.

I knew who he was, just one of those names from the past like Yuri Gagarin - useful for pub quizes!
 
Test pilot and made 97 two facts almost seem incompatible.

Like modern fighters I've been around I can't believe how small his aircraft was - and transferring into it mid flight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-mXNPhTdtk

Man had nuts for sure!
 
Another one of my heroes gone. He flew an amazing 360 types through WWII, Korea and Vietnam most of them named Glamorous Glennis or similar after his wife. One of, if not the first pilot to shoot down a jet fighter (Me262). I'll miss his inciteful and acerbic posts on Twitter :( download.jpeg0b788eaef8b94bd95af1c8a79fee256b.jpgP51-1 300.jpg960x0.jpg960x0 (1).jpg20201209_195053.jpg
 
"Hear that bang?" not with my hearing. Amstrad ears I call 'em. I had heard of Chuck though. I wanted to be a pilot when I was young. Making model planes and all that. When I became a teenager I became scared of heights so it put the kibosh to that. Today I hate flying.
 
Crazy Harry said:
Test pilot and made 97 two facts almost seem incompatible.

Like modern fighters I've been around I can't believe how small his aircraft was - and transferring into it mid flight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-mXNPhTdtk

Man had nuts for sure!
Click to expand...

If you think he had nuts, look for a book called 'Man in the Hot Seat' about Doddy Hay, who was test pilot for Martin Baker ejection seats.
Hundreds of ejections he did. Nutter!
But a fascinating read.
 
One of life's iconic figures. An amazing man and equally amazing he made it to 97 as a Test pilot. :thumbsup:
 
The regular test pilot for Bell Aviation demanded danger money of $150,000 to do the sound barrier attempt. Then the Army discovered Chuck would do it for his regular salary... funny how things work out.
 
I knew who he was and what he did but never knew he named the majority of his planes after his wife - amazing life and certainly had some big ones to do what he did.
 
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