On Wednesday, September 1, 2004, at 05:17 PM, Ken Norris (dialup) wrote:
Actually, the most important achievment of Chuck Yeager, and for which he is
most well known, is that he was the _first_ pilot to break the sound
barrier.
He did it on October 14, 1947, in an experimental mission-specific
rocket-powered aircraft called the X-1, built by Bell Aviation, which was
mounted to, and launched from, the belly of a B-29. He named it "Glamorous
Glennis II" after his wife (the first Glamorous Glennis was a P-51 Mustang)
At the time, he was purported to have had a dislocated shoulder, but he knew
the flight surgeon would ground him, so he didn't report it, made the flight
in a lot of pain.
In 1990, while I was in the Civil Air Patrol, Lake Tahoe Sqdn, I met him in
person at an aerospace education conference (10,000 teachers, high-ranking
NASA, FAA, USAF personnel, and other 'living legend' historical figures in
aviation) which lasted three days in Reno, Nevada.
I consider it a priviledge.
Oh, and one more historical item. I think he was the only fighter pilot at
the end of WWII to shoot down the famous German jet from a piston-engine
propellered aircraft (a P-51).
Ken N.
So What? :-)
_______________________________________________ use-revolution mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution
