Chuck Yeager Essay - 780 Words

Chuck Yeager is unquestionably the most famous test pilot of all time. He won a permanent place in the history of aviation as the first pilot ever to fly faster than the speed of sound, but that is only one of the remarkable feats this pilot performed in service to his country. Charles Elwood Yeager was born in 1923 in Myra, West Virginia and grew up in the nearby village of Hamlin. Immediately upon graduation from High School he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps to serve in World War II. Shot down over enemy territory only one day after his first kill in 1943, Yeager evaded capture, and with the aid of the French resistance, made his way across the Pyrenees to neutral Spain. Although army policy prohibited his return to†¦show more content†¦After the onset of the space race in 1956, Yeager commanded the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilots School to train pilots for the space program. In this capacity, Yeager supervised development of the space simulator and the introduction of advanced computers to Air force pilots. Although Yeager himself was passed over for service in space, nearly half of the astronauts who served in the Gemini, Mercury and Apollo programs were graduates of Yeagers school. In 1963, Yeager was flying the experimental Lockheed Starfighter at over twice the speed of sound when the engine shut off and he was forced to abandon the spinning aircraft. Yeagers compression suit was set on fire by the burning debris from the ejector seat, which became entangled in his parachute. He survived the fall, but required extensive skin grafts for his burns. The Air Force space school was closed in 1966, as NASA took over the training of astronauts. During the Vietnam War, Yeager -- now a full colonel -- commanded the 405th fighter wing out of the Philippines, flying 127 air-support missions, and training bomber pilots. In 1968, Yeager was promoted to brigadier general. He is one of a very few who have risen from enlisted man to general in the Air Force. In 1970, General Yeager served as U.S Defense Representative to Pakistan and supervised Pakistans air defense in its war with India. He retired from the Air Force in 1975, but continued toShow MoreRelatedI. Movie Title: The Right Stuff II. Major Characters: Chuck Yeager, John Glenn, Alan Sheppard,1200 Words   |  5 PagesI. Movie Title: The Right Stuff II. Major Characters: Chuck Yeager, John Glenn, Alan Sheppard, Gordo Cooper, Gus Grissom III. Historical Time Period: America in the 1940’s (during space exploration) IV. Film Plot: This film pretty much is all about the advances in American technology and how it affected the space race against the Soviets. It revolves around the Mercury 7 crew and test pilots competing with Soviets for the race to outer space. V. Film summary: The Right Stuff begins during theRead MoreEssay on American Heros in Tom Wolfes The Right Stuff 996 Words   |  4 Pagesinclude Pete Conrad, Chuck Yeager, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Shirra, Alan Shepard, Gordon Cooper, Scott Carpenter and Deke Sleyton. Some of these men were hotshot test pilots at Edwards Air Force Base, and some flew cargo planes. Some had impeccable service records, while others hadnt flown in a real dog fight for even a second. Despite these differences in backgrounds and credentials, Tom Wolfe turns each of these nine men into a separate and individualized hero. Chuck Yeager and John GlennRead MoreChuck Yeagar : The Boy Who Would Become A Man1210 Words   |  5 PagesChuck Yeagar was born Febuary 13 1923.The tiny town of Hamlin, West Virginia sits nestled in the Appalachian foothills, just about as far from worldwide acclaim as anyplace that’s barely a dot on the map. Yet it was here that the boy who would become a legend became a man. The second son of Albert Hal and Susie Mae Yeager, Chuck was always a curious kid. When he wasn’t climbing trees or exploring in the woods, he could often be found by Grandpa Yeager’s side watching, listening, and learning howRead More Courage is The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe Essay example956 Words   |  4 Pagestask before he had to move onto the next task. Another example of how training proved to accompany courage as the right stuff is when test pilot Chuck Yeager was flying the rocket-powered NF-104 when the aircraft went into a flat spin and he lost control of it. While the aircraft was plummeting down to Earth from 104,000 feet at 150 per second, Yeager was able to stay calm and run through all the scenarios that he had been trained in, and then some extra attempts to restart the aircraft and saveRead MoreComparsion of Throughout the Fate Is the Hunter and The Right Stuff807 Words   |  4 Pagesflight, with military having huge egos and commercial having a more modest and safer approach. ____?_____. Background There are several characters that are followed throughout The Right Stuff with the main characters being the Mercury astronauts, Chuck Yeager, and Pete Conrad. While in the book Fate is The Hunter there is only one main character Ernest Gann. Earnest Gann is the typical commercial airline pilot who flies a variety of airplanes mostly consisting of the DC-2 and DC-3. However in The RightRead MoreThe Invention Of The Airplane1401 Words   |  6 PagesVoyager for flying around the world nonstop on a single load of fuel. Voyager has two centerline engines, one fore and one aft, and weighs less than 2,000 pounds (fuel for the flight adds another 5,000 pounds). It is piloted by Jeana Yeager (no relation to test pilot Chuck Yeager) and Burt’s brother Dick Rutan, who circumnavigate the globe (26,000 miles) nonstop in 9 days†(Airplane Timeline). While the plane has mainly benefited society it has also led to some of the worst tragedies in history. The airplaneRead MoreThe Importance Of Reducing The Intensity Of A Sonic Boom1256 Words   |  6 Pagesproblem can be eliminated by making a suborbital transport aircraft, which could be very beneficial, but will still create a sonic boom, and will still, annoy people. At a higher price. Supersonic flight was pioneered by the air force in 1947, when Chuck Yeager became the first man to break the sound barrier. Shortly after, supersonic aircraft research was started.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Supersonic cruising aircraft did not begin until the mid-1950 s. Research on such aircraft had its origins in the United States inRead MoreEssay on Automobiles in the 1950s1229 Words   |  5 Pagesand very plain. This was because designers were too busy designing tanks, planes, etc... for the ongoing war. The major event that took place that changed the way cars looked and how they performed happened on October 14, 1947. This was when Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier. From this point on everyone wanted to go faster. People wanted automobiles with larger displacement engines. They also wanted sleek and aerodynamic cars. This prompted General Motors Corporation to hold MotoramaRead MoreThe National Aeronautics And Space Administration Essay2009 Words   |  9 Pagesresearched and developed through the US Air Force test pilot program as well as the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). This essay will also use flight research from this decade. Also from the same decade, people such as General Chuck Yeager, Scott Crossfield, and Joseph Walker will all play significant roles in their experiences as well as how they felt about NASA. To understand why it is so important that NASA was an exemption and something of a miracle, we must first understandRead MoreThe Challenger Disaster And Its Impact On Space Travel1708 Words   |  7 Pagesincident, the president called in a commission to investigate the causes of the crash. The commission, known as the Rogers Commission after its chairman William P Rogers, include many individuals previously involved in the space program such as Chuck Yeager and Neil Armstrong, along with nobel prive winner and theroetical physicist Richard Feynman. The commission uncovered many details of the crash that were previously overlooked. Feynman conducted an experiment with the material that O rings were