RIP General Yeager

[ctechbob]

Another Yeager story ... I don't remember if this was in the book, or elsewhere. Around the time Yeager broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1, there was a British movie, completely fictitious, released about breaking the sound barrier. In the movie, several pilots die while trying to go supersonic. Finally, the young protagonist, going on a hunch, reverses his controls (whatever that means) in the trans-sonic region, and punches through the sound barrier successfully. I'm guessing the aircraft was a Gloster Meteor.

Anyway, as the story goes, for years afterwards Yeager was asked by members of the public and the media how he knew to "reverse his controls" so his aircraft wouldn't disintegrate.

Apparently this annoyed him to no end.

It was in the book. (I've read the thing dozens of times) and it was that the controls locked above a certain speed. The reversed controls allowed them to unlock. I think Yeager's response was generally something along the lines of 'if I had tried that they would have found the X1's nose poking out of the ground in China'.

Really makes me want to find my copy and read it again for the n'th time.

At one point in time I'd started on a project to placemark all of the locations he mentioned in the book on Google Earth. I might give that a go again sometime, although I'm sure there are plenty of them that I'd never be able to find as time has marched on and a lot of the locations are going to be lost to history.

 

[Number_35]

It was in the book. (I've read the thing dozens of times) and it was that the controls locked above a certain speed. The reversed controls allowed them to unlock. I think Yeager's response was generally something along the lines of 'if I had tried that they would have found the X1's nose poking out of the ground in China'.

Really makes me want to find my copy and read it again for the n'th time.

At one point in time I'd started on a project to placemark all of the locations he mentioned in the book on Google Earth. I might give that a go again sometime, although I'm sure there are plenty of them that I'd never be able to find as time has marched on and a lot of the locations are going to be lost to history.

Time for me to reread it. A friend gifted me a new hardcover of Yeager in '86. That's almost 35 years, thus the inaccuracies in how I remembered the story.

Some years ago I also enjoyed The Fastest Man Alive (Pete Everest), Always Another Dawn (Scott Crossfield), and The Lonely Sky (Bill Bridgeman). I also have this LIFE magazine in my collection. The X-15 still fascinates me.

As I recall, Crossfield's book was much more gracious to Yeager than Yeager's was to Crossfield.

Good reads, all. Probably still available through ABE.

 

[ctechbob]

I've really got to force myself to get back to reading. The internet has killed my ability to read books (Yes, it really is a thing) whereas I used to be able to sit down and mow through a novel in an afternoon. So much I need to catch up on.

 

[Number_35]

I've really got to force myself to get back to reading. The internet has killed my ability to read books (Yes, it really is a thing) whereas I used to be able to sit down and mow through a novel in an afternoon. So much I need to catch up on.

Unfortunately, I can relate. I still read, but much of it is now on my smartphone. This is fairly recent for me - I'm just over a year into the smartphone era. Compounding that, I stalled out on a bad string of novels last spring. Getting back in the groove though.

Combining your interests in aerospace and reading, you might enjoy some of Martin Caidin's books, both fiction and non-fiction.

I have to admit, though, that the smartphone has its place as a reference tool - I'm rereading one of the classic Heinleins, and came upon the word "jabot". Must have skipped by it previously; looked it up this time.

 

[ctechbob]

That's the thing. I struggle to read anything of length these days, be it on paper or on a computer. Thankfully it is reversible, I just need to put the work in to do it.