Via the official account, regrettably, Gen. Yeager is no longer with us.

There's a life-size statue of him at Edwards AFB and it always struck me just how -short- he was.

I mean, I know I'm very tall and test pilots are always pretty short, but he seemed so tiny for having done so much.

I wonder if they've got the santa hat on him this year.

Look on the bright side, though. He still lives on through pretty much every pilot in the sky trying to talk like him. Long after everyone who knew him is dust, people will still be on the radio doing their best unhurried twang because it's the kind of voice someone who's in control has.

>Look on the bright side, though. He still lives on through pretty much
>every pilot in the sky trying to talk like him. Long after everyone
>who knew him is dust, people will still be on the radio doing their
>best unhurried twang because it's the kind of voice someone who's in
>control has.

I remember one of the Robotech novels (which, with the best will in the world, were not high art, but they did have their moments) mentioning that in the twenty-first century, nobody could remember exactly why pilots talked like that, but that the fashion was being replaced by people trying to sound Midwestern like Max Sterling.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

LAST EDITED ON Dec-08-20 AT 01:28 AM (EST)
 
As I noted on Twitter, this is regrettable, but on the other hand, 97 is pretty good going for a man who made a career out of courting a fiery death (and nearly succeeding on at least two occasions).

(Also, I think it illustrates how completely random life and health are that Yeager substantially outlived the much younger actor who played him in The Right Stuff.)

Still, it does feel a bit like when I heard that Muhammad Ali had died. Like wait, what? Is that allowed?

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

On the one hand, what General Yeager did was impressive and all the props for it, he deserved.
On the other hand, I've read between the lines of his autobiography and, having served in the local air force, have spoken to people that actually met him, and I am of the opinion that he was exceeding, overwhelmingly full of himself because of what he did.
I may be wrong, it's a book and second-hand information, but there it is.

...!
Stoke Mandeville, Esq & The Victorian Ballsmiths
"Nobody Want Verdigris-Covered Balls!"

To be fair, you just described all test pilots.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

LAST EDITED ON Dec-08-20 AT 05:17 AM (EST)
 
Well...sorta. But, test pilots are full of themselves because they're test pilots. Yeager, as read and described, was full of himself, it seemed to a nauseating degree, because he was Yeager. Very Chevy Chase in SNL. "I'm Chuck Yeager and you are not and that makes me SPECIAL."

This, of course, does not take anything away from what he did, but it does leave me less unthused, as it were.

...!
Stoke Mandeville, Esq & The Victorian Ballsmiths
"Nobody Want Verdigris-Covered Balls!"

>Well...sorta. But, test pilots are full of themselves because they're
>test pilots. Yeager, as read and described, was full of himself, it
>seemed to a nauseating degree, because he was Yeager. Very Chevy Chase
>in SNL. "I'm Chuck Yeager and you are not and that makes me SPECIAL."

In his defense: He was Chuck Yeager, and they weren't.

--
-Pasha
"Don't change the subject"
"Too slow, already did."

LAST EDITED ON Dec-08-20 AT 01:38 PM (EST)
 
>>Well...sorta. But, test pilots are full of themselves because they're
>>test pilots. Yeager, as read and described, was full of himself, it
>>seemed to a nauseating degree, because he was Yeager. Very Chevy Chase
>>in SNL. "I'm Chuck Yeager and you are not and that makes me SPECIAL."
>
>In his defense: He was Chuck Yeager, and they weren't.

Yeah, I was going to say, if you have that compelling a reason to believe that you're the best of a clade of people who already collectively view themselves as the princes of the universe, you're gonna be that guy.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>collectively view themselves as the princes of the universe,

GDI Gryph now I'm going to have Queen in my head all day ;-)

Not that I have a problem with that...