biography
| name: |
Yeager, Chuck
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| |
popular name of Charles Elwood Yeager
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pronunciation:
[yayger]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1923– )
|
| biography:
| Aviator and test pilot, born in Myra, West Virginia, USA. A fighter pilot ace during World War 2, he became the first to break the sound barrier, when he flew the Bell X-1 rocket 670 mph in level flight (14 Oct 1947). He broke the sound barrier for the last time aged 79 when his F-15 Eagle reached Mach 1·45 (26 Oct 2002). He held various air-force command assignments during 1954–62. He was vice-commander of the Ramstein, Germany, Air Base (1968–9), US defence representative to Pakistan (1971–3), and director of aerospace safety at Norton Air Force Base in California (1973–5). His autobiography, Press On, was published in 1985. He appears as the main character in Tom Wolfe's book, The Right Stuff, and as the epitome of that virtue he appeared in many commercial endorsements. |
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