# RIP Chuck Yeager **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 8, 2020, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chuck-yeager/927539 "2020-12-08T04:35:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chuck-yeager/927539/21 "2020-12-08T15:35:39Z")
In the 1980s, Chuck Yeager was a spokesman for AC Delco. [AC Spark Plug Commercial with Gen, Chuck Yeager 1985) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMOaegqrAfw) My dad was a Flight Service Specialist in the FAA, stationed at William J. Fox airport in Lancaster, very near Edwards AFB. One day Yeager was flying an ultralight in the area and made a forced landing. Dad drove out and gave him a ride back to the airport. (He must have been off-duty.) Yeager went Mach 1 in an F-15 for the 50th anniversary of his famous flight, at the airshow at Edwards. I was walking along, and there he was; just feet away from me. Before I could stop myself, I was like ‘General Yeager!’ He looked at me and smiled and waited for whatever I had to say. I had nothing. My exclamation came out before I could stop it. I was an extra on The Right Stuff (though I didn’t make it on-screen). I didn’t meet Yeager then, as his scenes were elsewhere at a different time. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chuck-yeager/927539/22 "2020-12-08T15:47:15Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I think he also asks the astronaut recruiters if they want anything to drink Something like, ‘Y’all want a whiskey?’ ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chuck-yeager/927539/23 "2020-12-08T15:53:33Z")
Perhaps so, Robot. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chuck-yeager/927539/24 "2020-12-08T16:59:25Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Yeager went Mach 1 in an F-15 for the 50th anniversary of his famous flight, at the airshow at Edwards. Yeager used to give a talk at the National Air and Space Museum every October. I went to the one in 1997, just a few days removed from that 50th anniversary. Earlier that day, the museum staff had raised him up on a lift so he could climb in the cockpit of the X-1 again (it’s hanging from the ceiling of the museum). During the talk he played a recording from his flight in the X-1A where it started tumbling and fell 50,000 feet before he regained control. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chuck-yeager/927539/25 "2020-12-08T17:04:48Z")
97 is a good long life, especially for one who faced and cheated death as many times as he did. Nobody cheats time. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chuck-yeager/927539/26 "2020-12-08T19:30:03Z")
I worked at NASM just before the period you mentioned, and ([among others](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-person-youve-seen-in-real-life/822340/92)) met Yeager and Scott Crossfield, who was first to fly Mach 2. One of them was the nicest and most unassuming guy, pleasant to talk to, and not arrogant in the least. It wasn’t Yeager. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chuck-yeager/927539/27 "2020-12-08T20:42:56Z")
What a guy! A life well lived! RIP ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chuck-yeager/927539/28 "2020-12-08T20:47:23Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > It occurs to me that anyone who had a career as a military test pilot who dies in bed in their 90’s had a pretty good run. Hell yeah. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > In the 1980s, Chuck Yeager was a spokesman for AC Delco. Dig the not-veiled-even-thinly promo for Northrop while at it… got the feeling AC Delco did not pay a cent for making that ad. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chuck-yeager/927539/29 "2020-12-08T20:55:46Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Dig the not-veiled-even-thinly promo for Northrop while at it I saw the F-20 when I worked at Eddie’s Air Patch. I’ve always liked the T-38s and F-5s, and so I liked the Tigershark. It should have been successful. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chuck-yeager/927539/30 "2020-12-08T23:54:12Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > Damn. 2020 can bugger _right_ off. Ya know, 97 is a damn fine age to to reach, especially for a risk-taker. I seriously doubt the year had any role in his demise. Lighten up. Fly in peace, CY. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chuck-yeager/927539/31 "2020-12-09T00:09:24Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > Ya know, 97 is a damn fine age to to reach, especially for a risk-taker. I seriously doubt the year had any role in his demise. Lighten up. Agreed. Always sad when someone dies, of course, but what more could anyone ask than nearly a century of gloriously cheating death and spitting in its face. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chuck-yeager/927539/32 "2020-12-09T00:33:52Z")
I enjoyed his book. And I enjoyed _The Right Stuff_. Even Bunny had her moments. I was sorry to hear this news. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chuck-yeager/927539/33 "2020-12-09T00:50:52Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I remember reading, a long time ago, about Yeager breaking the sound barrier for the first time. From what I remember of the account, the amazing thing was that the aerodynamics change drastically as you hit the speed of sound and you encounter very strong turbulence. To most people in that era this would be an indication that you need to pull back and not push it any further. Yeager just went ahead, and discovered that once you’re past the speed of sound, things just smooth out again as a new set of aerodynamics kicks in, if the airplane is properly designed for it. Not my idea of fun, but says a lot about the guy. Test pilots have a completely different outlook on life than regular people. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chuck-yeager/927539/34 "2020-12-09T19:45:22Z")
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