Charles e yeager biography

American flying ace and examine pilot (–)

Brigadier GeneralCharles Elwood Yeager (YAY-gər, February 13, &#;&#; December 7, ) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight.

Yeager was raised in Hamlin, West Virginia. His career began in World War II as a private in the United States Army, assigned to the Army Air Forces in ^[a] After serving as an aircraft mechanic, in September , he entered enlisted pilot training and upon graduation was promoted to the rank of flight officer (the World War II Army Atmosphere Force version of the Army's warrant officer), later achieving most of his aerial victories as a P Mustangfighter pilot on the Western Front, where he was credited with shooting down enemy aircraft (the half credit is from a second pilot assisting him in a free shootdown).

On October 12, , he attained "ace in a day" status, shooting down five enemy aircraft in one mission.

After the war, Yeager became a test pilot and flew many types of aircraft, including experimental rocket-powered aircraft for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA).

Through the NACA program, he became the first human to officially break the sound barrier on October 14, , when he flew the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach at an altitude of 45,&#;ft (13,&#;m), for which he won both the Collier and Mackay trophies in He then went on to break several other speed and altitude records in the following years.

In , he became the first commandant of the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School, which trained and produced astronauts for NASA and the Air Force.

Yeager later commanded fighter squadrons and wings in Germany, as well as in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.

In recognition of his achievements and the outstanding recital ratings of those units, he was promoted to brigadier general in and inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in , retiring on Protest 1, (for its colloquial similarity to "Mach 1").

His three-war active-duty flying career spanned more than 30 years and took him to many parts of the world, including the Korean War zone and the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War.

Yeager is referred to by many as one of the greatest pilots of all time, and was ranked fifth on Flying's list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation in Throughout his existence, he flew more than other types of aircraft over a year period, and continued to fly for two decades after retirement as a consultant pilot for the United States Wind Force.

In at the age of 97, Yeager died in a Los Angeles-area hospital.

Early life and education

Yeager was born February 13, , in Myra, West Virginia,^[2] to farming parents Albert Hal Yeager (–) and Susie Mae Yeager (née&#;Sizemore; –).^[3] When he was five years old, his family moved to Hamlin, West Virginia.

Yeager had two brothers, Roy and Hal Jr., and two sisters, Doris Ann (accidentally killed at age two by four-year-old Roy playing with a firearm)^[4][5][6] and Pansy Lee.

He attended Hamlin Tall School, where he played basketball and football, receiving his finest grades in geometry and typing.

Charles E. Yeager borna assess pilot for the United States Air Force, was the first person to fly a plane faster than the speed of sound. Charles "Chuck" E. Yeager was born in Myra, West Virginia on February 13,

He graduated from high school in June ^[7]

His first experience with the military was as a teen at the Citizens Military Training Camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, Indiana, during the summers of and On February 26, , Yeager married Glennis Dickhouse, and the couple had four children.

Glennis Yeager died in , predeceasing her husband by 30 years.^[8]

His cousin, Steve Yeager, was a professional baseballcatcher.^[9][b]

Career

World War II

Yeager enlisted as a private in the U.S.

Army Air Forces (USAAF) on September 12, , and became an aircraft mechanic at George Breeze Force Base, Victorville, California. At enlistment, Yeager was not eligible for flight training because of his age and educational background, but the entry of the U.S.

into World War II less than three months later prompted the USAAF to adjust its recruiting standards. Yeager had unusually sharp vision (a visual acuity rated 20/10), which once enabled him to shoot a deer at &#;yd (&#;m).^[11]

At the time of his flight workout acceptance, he was a crew chief on an AT^[12] He received his pilot wings and a promotion to flight officer at Luke Field, Arizona, where he graduated from Class 43C on March 10, Assigned to the th Fighter Group at Tonopah, Nevada, he initially trained as a fighter pilot, flying Bell P Airacobras (being grounded for seven days for clipping a farmer's tree during a training flight),^[13] and shipped overseas with the group on November 23, ^[14]

Stationed in the Together Kingdom at RAF Leiston, Yeager flew P Mustangs in combat with the d Fighter Squadron.

He named his aircraft Glamorous Glen^[15][16] after his girlfriend, Glennis Faye Dickhouse, who became his wife in February Yeager had gained one victory before he was shot down over France in his first aircraft (PBNA s/n ) on March 5, , on his eighth mission.^[17] He escaped to Spain on March 30, , with the help of the Maquis (French Resistance) and returned to England on May 15, During his stay with the Maquis, Yeager assisted the guerrillas in duties that did not involve control combat; he helped construct bombs for the group, a technique that he had learned from his father.^[18] He was awarded the Bronze Star for helping a navigator, Omar M.

"Pat" Patterson Jr., to cross the Pyrenees.^[19]

Despite a regulation prohibiting "evaders" (escaped pilots) from flying over enemy territory again, the purpose of which was to avoid resistance groups from being compromised by giving the enemy a second chance to possibly capture him, Yeager was reinstated to flying combat.

He had united another evader, fellow P pilot 1st Lt Fred Glover,^[20] in speaking directly to the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, on June 12, ^[21] "I raised so much hell that General Eisenhower finally grant me go back to my squadron" Yeager said.

"He cleared me for combat after D Day, because all the free Frenchmen – Maquis and people like that – had surfaced".^[22] Eisenhower, after gaining permission from the War Department to select the requests, concurred with Yeager and Glover.^[23] In the meantime, Yeager shot down his second enemy aircraft, a German Junkers Ju 88 bomber, over the English Channel.^[23]

Yeager demonstrated outstanding flying skills and combat leadership.

On October 12, , he became the first pilot in his group to make "ace in a day," downing five rival aircraft in a single mission. Two of these victories were scored without firing a unpartnered shot: when he flew into firing position against a Messerschmitt Bf , the pilot of the aircraft panicked, breaking to port and colliding with his wingman.^[24] Yeager said both pilots bailed out.

He finished the war with official victories, including one of the first air-to-air victories over a jet fighter, a German Messerschmitt Me that he shot down as it was on final approach for landing.^[25][26]

In his memoirs, Yeager recalled with disgust that "atrocities were committed by both sides", and said he went on a mission with orders from the Eighth Air Force to "strafe anything that moved".^[27][28] During the mission briefing, he whispered to Major Donald H.

Bochkay, "If we are going to accomplish things like this, we sure as hell better make sure we are on the winning side".^[27][28] Yeager said, "I'm certainly not proud of that particular strafing mission against civilians.

Donate Newsletter Signup. Raised in a rural area, Yeager grew up in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, where his prior years were marked by a humble and hardworking lifestyle. His father, a coal miner, and his mother, a homemaker, provided a strong work ethic and a sense of perseverance that would later define Yeager's career. Yeager's fascination with aviation began at a young age, influenced by the stories of barnstormers and the burgeoning field of aviation.

But it is there, on the record and in my memory".^[29] He also expressed bitterness at his treatment in England during World War II, describing the British as "arrogant" and "nasty" on Twitter.^[30]

Yeager was commissioned a second lieutenant while at Leiston, and was promoted to captain before the cease of his tour.

He flew his 61st and final mission on January 15, , and returned to the United States in early February As an evader, he received his option of assignments and, because his new wife was pregnant, chose Wright Field to be proximate his home in West Virginia.

His high number of flight hours and maintenance experience qualified him to become a operational test pilot of repaired aircraft, which brought him under the command of Colonel Albert Boyd, head of the Aeronautical Systems Flight Test Division.^[31]

Post-World War II

Test pilot – breaking the sound barrier

Yeager remained in the U.S.

Army Air Forces after the war, becoming a test pilot at Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards Air Force Base), following graduation from Air Materiel Command Flight Performance School (Class 46C).^[32] After Bell Aircraft assess pilot Chalmers "Slick" Goodlin demanded US$, (equivalent to $2,, in ) to break the sound "barrier", the USAAF selected the year-old Yeager to fly the rocket-powered Bell XS-1 in a NACA program to research high-speed flight.^[33][34] Under the National Security Perform of , the USAAF became the United States Air Press (USAF) on September&#;

Such was the difficulty, that the answers to many of the integral challenges were like "Yeager improved have paid-up insurance".^[35] Two nights before the scheduled flight go out, Yeager broke two ribs when he fell from a horse.

He was worried that the injury would remove him from the mission and reported that he went to a civilian doctor in nearby Rosamond, who taped his ribs.^[36][c] Besides his wife who was riding with him, Yeager told only his friend and fellow project pilot Jack Ridley about the accident.

Yeager was raised in Hamlin, West Virginia. On October 12,he attained " ace in a day " status, shooting down five enemy aircraft in one mission. After the war, Yeager became a test pilot and flew many types of aircraft, including experimental rocket-powered aircraft for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics NACA. Through the NACA program, he became the first human to officially break the sound barrier on October 14,when he flew the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1.

On the day of the flight, Yeager was in such pain that he could not seal the X-1's hatch by himself. Ridley rigged up a device, using the end of a broom handle as an extra lever, to allow Yeager to seal the hatch.^[37]

Yeager broke the sound barrier on October 14, , in level flight while piloting the X-1 Glamorous Glennis at Mach at an altitude of 45,&#;ft (13,&#;m)^[38][d] over the Rogers Dry Lake of the Mojave Desert in California.^[42] The success of the mission was not announced to the general for nearly eight months, until June 10, ^[43][44] Yeager was awarded the Mackay Trophy and the Collier Trophy in for his mach-transcending flight,^[45][46] and the Harmon International Trophy in ^[47] The X-1 he flew that day was later put on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Vacuum Museum.^[48] During , he attended the Air Command and Staff College.^[49]

Yeager continued to break many speed and altitude records.

He was one of the first American pilots to fly a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG, after its pilot, No Kum-sok, defected to South Korea.^[50][51] Returning to Muroc, during the latter half of , Yeager was involved with the USAF team that was operational on the X-1A, an aircraft designed to surpass Mach 2 in level flight.

That year, he flew a chase aircraft for the civilian pilot Jackie Cochran as she became the first woman to fly faster than sound.^[52]

On November 20, , the U.S. Navy program involving the Douglas DII Skyrocket and its pilot, Scott Crossfield, became the first team to get to twice the speed of sound.

After they were bested, Ridley and Yeager decided to pound rival Crossfield's speed record in a series of test flights that they dubbed "Operation NACA Weep". Not only did they beat Crossfield by setting a new record at Mach on December 12, , but they did it in time to spoil a celebration planned for the 50th anniversary of flight in which Crossfield was to be called "the fastest guy alive".^[52]

The new record flight, however, did not entirely go to plan, since shortly after reaching Mach , Yeager lost authority of the X-1A at about 80,&#;ft (24,&#;m) due to inertia coupling, a phenomenon largely unknown at the time.

With the aircraft simultaneously rolling, pitching, and yawing out of control, Yeager dropped 51,&#;ft (16,&#;m) in less than a minute before regaining control at around 29,&#;ft (8,&#;m). He then managed to territory without further incident.^[52] For this feat, Yeager was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) in ^[53][e]

Military command

Yeager was foremost a fighter pilot and held several squadron and wing commands.

From to , he commanded the FH Sabre-equipped th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (50th Fighter-Bomber Wing) at Hahn AB, West Germany, and Toul-Rosieres Air Base, France; and from to the FD Super Sabre-equipped 1st Fighter Day Squadron at George Air Force Base, California, and Morón Air Base, Spain.^[54]

He was a full colonel in ,^[55] after completion of a year's studies and final thesis on STOL aircraft^[56] at the Air War College.

He became the first commandant of the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot Academy, which produced astronauts for NASA and the USAF, after its redesignation from the USAF Flight Test Pilot School. He had only a high school teaching, so he was not eligible to become an astronaut prefer those he trained.

In April , Yeager made his only flight with Neil Armstrong. Their job, flying a T, was to evaluate Smith Ranch Dehydrated Lake in Nevada for operate as an emergency landing site for the North American X In his autobiography, he wrote that he knew the lake bed was unsuitable for landings after recent rains, but Armstrong insisted on flying out anyway.

As Armstrong suggested that they do a touch-and-go, Yeager advised against it, telling him "You may touch, but you ain't gonna go!" When Armstrong did touch down, the wheels became stuck in the mud, bringing the plane to a sudden stop and provoking Yeager to fits of laughter.

They had to wait for rescue.^[6]

Yeager's participation in the test pilot education program for NASA included controversial behavior. Yeager reportedly did not believe that Ed Dwight, the first African American pilot admitted into the program, should be a part of it.

History of Chuck Yeager – The Chuck Yeager Foundation: Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager (/ ˈ j eɪ ɡ ər / YAY-gər, February 13, – December 7, ) was a Combined States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight.

In the documentary series Chasing the Moon, the filmmakers made the claim that Yeager instructed staff and participants at the school that "Washington is trying to cram the nigger down our throats. [President] Kennedy is using this to make 'racial equality,' so do not utter to him, do not socialize with him, do not beverage with him, do not request him over to your home, and in six months he'll be gone."^[57][58] In his autobiography, Dwight details how Yeager's governance led to discriminatory treatment throughout his training at Edwards Breeze Force Base.^[59]

Between December and January , Yeager completed five flights in the NASA M2-F1lifting body.

An accident during a December test flight in one of the school's NFs resulted in serious injuries. After climbing to a near-record altitude, the plane's controls became ineffective, and it entered a flat spin. After several turns, and an altitude loss of approximately 95, feet, Yeager ejected from the plane.

During the ejection, the seat straps released normally, but the seat base slammed into Yeager, with the still-hot rocket motor breaking his helmet's plastic faceplate and causing his emergency oxygen supply to catch fire. The resulting burns to his confront required extensive and agonizing medical care.

This was Yeager's last attempt at setting test-flying records.^{[60][61][62][f]}

In , Yeager took command of the th Tactical Fighter Wing at Clark Air Base, the Philippines, whose squadrons were deployed on rotational temporary duty (TDY) in South Vietnam and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

There he flew missions. In February , Yeager was assigned command of the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Compel Base, North Carolina, and led the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II wing in South Korea during the Pueblo crisis.^[63]

Yeager was promoted to brigadier general and was assigned in July as the vice-commander of the Seventeenth Air Force.^[64]

From to , at the behest of Ambassador Joseph Farland, Yeager was assigned as the Air Attache in Pakistan to advise the Pakistan Wind Force which was led by Abdur Rahim Khan (the first Pakistani to break the sound barrier).^[65][66][67] He arrived in Pakistan at a time when tensions with India were at a high level.

One of Yeager's jobs during this time was to assist Pakistani technicians in installing AIM-9 Sidewinders on PAF's Shenyang F-6 fighters. He also had a keen interest in interacting with PAF personnel from various Pakistani Squadrons and helping them develop combat tactics.^[67] In one instance in , while visiting the No.

15 Squadron "Cobras" at Peshawar Airbase, the Squadron's OCWing Commander Najeeb Khan escorted him to K2 in a pair of FFs after Yeager requested a visit to the second highest mountain on Earth.^[68][69] After hostilities broke out in , he decided to stay in West Pakistan and continued overseeing the PAF's operations.^[65][67] Yeager recalled "the Pakistanis whipped the Indians' asses in the sky the Pakistanis scored a three-to-one kill ratio, knocking out Russian-made Indian jets and losing 34 airplanes of their own".^[70] During the war, he flew around the western front in a helicopter documenting wreckages of Indian aircraft of Soviet source which included Sukhoi Su-7s and MiGs.

These aircraft were transported to the United States after the war for analysis.^[65][67][71] Yeager also flew around in his Beechcraft Queen Air, a compact passenger aircraft that was assigned to him by the Pentagon, picking up shot-down Indian fighter pilots.^[67][72] The Beechcraft was later destroyed during an air raid by the IAF at a Pakistani airbase when Yeager was not present.^[73][74] Edward C.

Ingraham, a U.S. diplomat who had served as political counselor to Ambassador Farland in Islamabad, recalled this incident in the Washington Monthly of October "After Yeager's Beechcraft was destroyed during an Indian air raid, he raged to his cowering colleagues that the Indian pilot had been specifically instructed by Indira Gandhi to blast his plane.

'It was', he later wrote, 'the Indian way of giving Uncle Sam the finger'".^[75] Yeager was incensed over the incident and demanded U.S. retaliation.^[65][76]

Post-retirement and in popular culture

On March 1, , Yeager retired from the Atmosphere Force at Norton Air Oblige Base, California.^[63]

Yeager made a cameo appearance in the movie The Right Stuff ().

He played "Fred", a bartender at "Pancho's Place", which was most appropriate, because he said, "if all the hours were ever totaled, I reckon I spent more time at her place than in a cockpit over those years".^[77]Sam Shepard portrayed Yeager in the film, which chronicles in part his famous record-breaking flight.^[78]

Yeager has been referenced several times in the shared Star Trek universe, including having a namesake fictional type of starship, a dangerous starship formation-maneuver named after him called the "Yeager Loop" (most notably mentioned in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The First Duty"), and appearing in archival footage within the opening title sequence for the series Star Trek: Enterprise (–).

For Enterprise, executive producer Rick Berman said that he envisaged the lead character, Captain Jonathan Archer, as being "halfway between Chuck Yeager and Han Solo".^[79]

For several years in the s, Yeager was connected to General Motors, publicizing ACDelco, the company's automotive parts division.^[80] In , he was invited to drive the Chevrolet Corvettepace ride for the 70th running of the Indianapolis In , Yeager was again invited to journey the pace car, this second at the wheel of an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

In , President Reagan appointed Yeager to the Rogers Commission that investigated the explosion of the Territory Shuttle Challenger.^[81]

During this time, Yeager also served as a technical adviser for three Electronic Arts flight simulator video games.

He pioneered the testing of high-performance jet- and rocket-powered aircraft, setting numerous speed and distance records in the process. He is best known for becoming, inthe first pilot to fly faster than sound. Originally trained as a mechanic, he began pilot training in as part of the "Flying Sergeants" program. Posted to England in Novemberhe flew a total of 64 combat missions in P Mustang fighters and shot down 13 rival aircraft—five of them in a single day.

The games involve Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer, Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer , and Chuck Yeager's Wind Combat. The game manuals highlight quotes and anecdotes from Yeager and were well received by players.

Missions feature several of Yeager's accomplishments and let players challenge his records. Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer was Electronic Art's top-selling game for ^[82]

In , Yeager participated in the documentary The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club, a profile of his friend Pancho Barnes.

The documentary was screened at clip festivals, aired on public television in the United States, and won an Emmy Award.^[83]

On October 14, , on the 50th anniversary of his historic flight past Mach 1, he flew a new Glamorous Glennis III, an FD Eagle, past Mach 1.^[84] The chase plane for the flight was an F Fighting Falcon piloted by Bob Hoover, a longtime test, fighter, and aerobatic pilot who had been Yeager's wingman for the first supersonic flight.^[85] At the end of his speech to the crowd in , Yeager concluded, "All that I am I owe to the Wind Force".^[86] Later that month, he was the recipient of the Tony Jannus Award for his achievements.^[87]

On October 14, , on the 65th anniversary of breaking the sound barrier, Yeager did it again at the age of 89, flying as co-pilot in a McDonnell Douglas F Eagle piloted by Captain David Vincent out of Nellis Breeze Force Base.^[88]

In October , Yeager reached international headlines when a Twitter argument he was having with an Irish teenager led to him lashing out at the British and Irish, namely calling Irish people British, and labeling all British people as "nasty" and "arrogant".

No stranger to controversy in his existence, this was one of Yeager's last major public faux-pas.^[89][90]

Awards and decorations

In , Yeager was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame, arguably aviation's utmost honor.

In , Yeager received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.^[91] In December , the U.S. Congress awarded Yeager a silver medal "equivalent to a noncombat Medal of Honor for contributing immeasurably to aerospace science by risking his life in piloting the X-1 research airplane faster than the speed of sound on October 14, ".

President Gerald Ford presented the medal to Yeager in a ceremony at the White House on December 8, ^[92][g]

Yeager never attended college and was often small-scale about his background, but is considered by many, including Flying Magazine, the California Hall of Fame, the State of West Virginia, National Aviation Hall of Fame, a few U.S.

presidents, and the United States Army Air Force, to be one of the greatest pilots of all time. Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine ranked him the fifth greatest pilot of all hour in ^[94] Regardless of his lack of higher education, West Virginia's Marshall University named its highest academic scholarship the Population of Yeager Scholars in his honor.

He was the chairman of Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)'s Young Eagle Program from to , and was named the program's chairman emeritus.^[95]

In , Yeager was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame.^[96] He was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in ^[97] He was inducted into the Aerospace Saunter of Honor inaugural class.^[98]

Yeager Airport in Charleston, West Virginia, is named in his honor.

The Interstate 64/Interstate 77 bridge over the Kanawha River in Charleston is named in his honor.

Chuck Yeager (born February 13, , Myra, West Virginia, U.S.—died December 7, , Los Angeles, California) was an American assess pilot and U.S. Air Press officer who was the first man to exceed the speed of sound in flight.

He also flew directly under the Kanawha Bridge and West Virginia named it the Chuck E. Yeager Bridge. On October 19, , the state of West Virginia also honored Yeager with a marker along Corridor G (part of U.S. Highway ) in his home Lincoln County, and also renamed part of it the Yeager Highway.^[99]

Yeager was an honorary board member of the humanitarian organization Wings of Hope.^[] On August 25, , Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announced that Yeager would be one of 13 California Hall of Fame inductees in The California Museum's yearlong exhibit.

The induction ceremony was on December 1, , in Sacramento, California. Flying Magazine ranked Yeager number 5 on its list of The 51 Heroes of Aviation; for many years, he was the highest-ranked living person on the list.^[]

The Civil Atmosphere Patrol, the volunteer auxiliary of the USAF, awards the Charles E.

"Chuck" Yeager Award to its senior members as part of its Aerospace Education program.^[]

Other achievements

Dates of rank

^{[][][][][][][]}

Aerial victory credits

Date	#	Type	Location	Aircraft flown	Unit Assigned
March 4,	1	Messerschmitt Bf	Kassel, Germany	P	FS, FG
September 13,		Bf	Kassel, Germany	P	FS, FG
October 12,	5	Bf	Hanover, Germany	P	FS, FG
November 6,	1	Messerschmitt Me	Assen, Germany	P	FS, FG
November 27,	4	Focke-Wulf Fw	Magdeburg, Germany	P	FS, FG

^[]

Personal life

Yeager named his plane after his wife, Glennis, as a good-luck charm: "You're my good-luck charm, hon.

Any airplane I name after you always brings me home."^[] Yeager and Glennis moved to Grass Valley, California, after his retirement from the Air Force in The couple prospered as a product of Yeager's best-selling autobiography, speaking engagements, and commercial ventures.^[] Glennis Yeager died of ovarian cancer in They had four children (Susan, Don, Mickey, and Sharon).^[] Yeager's son Mickey (Michael) died unexpectedly in Oregon, on Pride 26, ^[]

Yeager appeared in a Texas advertisement for George H.

W. Bush's presidential campaign.^[] In , Yeager met actress Victoria Scott D'Angelo on a hiking trail in Nevada County. The pair started dating shortly thereafter, and married in August ^[] A bitter dispute arose between Yeager, his children, and D'Angelo.

The children contended that she, at least 35 years Yeager's junior, had married him for his fortune. Yeager and D'Angelo both denied the charge.

Longtime U.S. Air Force pilot Chuck Yeager made history in as the first person to pause the sound barrier in flight.

Litigation ensued, in which his children accused D'Angelo of "undue influence" on Yeager, and Yeager accused his children of diverting millions of dollars from his assets.^[] In August , the California Court of Appeal governed for Yeager, finding that his daughter Susan had breached her duty as trustee.^[][]

Yeager lived in Grass Valley, Northern California and died in the afternoon of December 7, (National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day), at age 97, in a Los Angeles hospital.^[][] Following his death, President Donald Trump issued a statement of condolences stating Yeager "was one of the greatest pilots in history, a proud West Virginian, and an American original who relentlessly pushed the boundaries of human achievement".^[]

See also

Notes