(December 8, 2020 at 12:41 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote:(December 8, 2020 at 11:31 am)Anomalocaris Wrote: Chuck Yeager was the first pilot who intentional flew past the speed of sound in level flight and lived to tell about it.
A few pilots likely flew at or just above speed of sound unintentionally during dives in WWII, and lived to tell about it. a few more pilots intended to fly past speed of sound in dives and in level flight after WWII, but before Yeager, and a few may have succeeded, but didn’t live to tell.
The US produced well over a million military pilots during WWII, plenty of them became test pilots afterwards. Except for publicity purposes because he is the pilot who happen to be there when the X-1 broke the sound barrier, how does Yeager fit the bill particularly well amongst that large pool?
But against his being there when the sound barrier was broken must be set the fact that he was only there because he broke regulations and hid a debilitating previous rib injury to be there. This potentially endangered both the effort and the valuable experimental aircraft.
In the race to not be left too far behind the USSR, would the US risk losing more ground by having a national hero die and his spacecraft lost because he broke a few more ribs the night before launch and decided to hide it so as to not lose his spot should fame come?
If Yeager has been disqualified from Mercury because he was a rule breaking hot-dog, I wouldn't have an issue. But he met all of the requirements for the programme except for having a college degree.
Boru
He stepped on a few toes on the way to the top and pissed more than a few people off. He said himself that if he had been a bit more diplomatic and politic it would have been easier on him. He damned near never got his star - except for the pull if Jackie Cochrane who thought the world of General Yeager back when he was a junior officer - and had major political pull....
Low friends in high places and all that....
