Thursday, February 13, 2014

Chuck Yeager Turns 91 Today

Famed test pilot General Charles "Chuck" Yeager turns 91 years old today.



In October 1947, the then Captain Yeager, flying the Bell X-1 experimental aircraft, broke the "sound barrier", flying faster than Mach 1 (the speed of sound). The flight made history.



The exploits of Yeager, and other test pilots of the early Space Age, were immortalized in a book, The Right Stuff, by Tom Wolfe:



The book was later turned into a major Hollywood film:



with actor Sam Shepard portraying Yeager:



Again, happy birthday, General Yeager; you sir, have "the right stuff"!

[A Thomas Clarke endeavor]

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