> Highway 14 wasn't terribly busy in the middle of the day, but it wasn't
> deserted either, and Yeager was threading through the light-to-moderate
> traffic at pretty much the (very considerable) best speed a late-model
> Pontiac Bonneville with the Super Duty 421 engine could do.

I've made this run before and yeah - midday traffic up the 14 is really light and, despite going uphill the whole way, you can get one hell of a turn of speed going.

What's especially fun is that the 14 goes right by Vasquez Rocks which you should recognize from such things as The A Team, Army of Darkness, and Star Trek: Gorn Fight

Really excellent story - greatly enjoyed it - but then, I do love me the shenanigans surrounding test flights of all sorts.