Chuck Yeager – a United States Air Force (USAF) pilot who became the first human being to break sound barrier passed away on December 7th in Los Angeles at the age of 97.
Known as the ‘the fastest man alive’, Chuck Yeager passed away on Monday a day earlier in Los Angeles US, confirmed his wife Victoria using his verified social media account.
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“It is with profound sorrow, I must tell you that my life love General Chuck Yeager passed just before 9pm ET. An incredible life well lived, America’s greatest Pilot, and a legacy of strength, adventure, and patriotism will be remembered forever,” read the tweet.
Who was Chuck Yeager?
Born Charles Elwood Yeager, ‘Chuck Yeager’ was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot. In 1947, he became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight.
Yeager’s career began in World War II as a private in the United States Army Air Forces in 1941. After serving as an aircraft mechanic, in September 1942 he entered enlisted pilot training and upon graduation was promoted to the rank of flight officer (the World War II USAAF equivalent to warrant officer), later achieving most of his aerial victories as a P-51 fighter pilot on the Western Front, where he was credited with 11.5 enemy aircraft.
After the war, Yeager became a test pilot of many types of aircraft, including experimental rocket-powered aircraft.
As the first human to officially break the sound barrier, on October 14, 1947, he flew the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 feet (13,700 meters), for which he won both the Collier and Mackay trophies in 1948. He then went on to break several other speed and altitude records.
Yeager went on to break many other speed and altitude records. He was also one of the first American pilots to fly a MiG-15, after its pilot, No Kum-sok, defected to South Korea.
In 1973, Yeager was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame, arguably aviation’s highest honor. In 1974, Yeager received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
In December 1975, the U.S. Congress awarded Yeager a silver medal ‘equivalent to a noncombat Medal of Honor’.
In 1966, Yeager was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1981.
Correspondence with Pakistan
Chuck Yeager served as US Defence Representative from 1971 to 1973 and was assigned the duty to monitor, advice and assist Pakistan Air Force (PAF) with the American equipment.
He spoke highly of PAF and lauded its professionalism and skills.
“They were really good, aggressive dogfighters and proficient in gunnery and air combat tactics. I was damned impressed. Those guys just lived and breathed flying,” he was quoted saying in his autobiography.