Interview with Charles Yeager

Jim Thorn Interviews Chuck Yeager

Brigadier General(USAF Ret. ) Charles E. (Chuck) Yeager has been a consulting test pilot for Northrop since 1980, assisting primarily in the development of the F-20 Tigershark. On October 14, 1947, General Yeager became the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound. His historic flight in the Bell X-1 aircraft capped a nine-year assignment as USAF’s leading test pilot which also saw General Yeager become the first man to exceed Mach 2, flying the Bell X-1A in December of 1952. He flew active combat missions in the Second World War and Vietnam and became an ace in the former. With the rank of Brigadier General and an endorsement on 178 different aircraft types behind him Chuck Yeager finally retired from USAF in 1975. Australian Aviation was fortunate recently to speak with him at length on his experiences and attitudes towards the rapidly changing world of combat aircraft.

JT: Sir, you have logged over 10,000 flight hours in fighter aircraft dating from the Second World War to the present. Of the more than 178 aircraft you have flown which aircraft appealed to you the most?

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