Ok...so I've done it! I added another all-time great to my personal list of aviation heroes. Yes I know many people have "Mr. Right-Stuff" on their lists too, and I'm probably a late-comer in doing so, but I honestly knew very little about the man behind the aviation legend until I attended my first FAA Safety Seminar at McClellan Field in Sacramento.
Most people know him by his aviation achievements in combat and as a test pilot -- being the first man to break the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 on October 14, 1947. I knew this too. It is an amazing achievement, but "firsts" alone score little points in getting to the top of my list. What won me over, is General Yeager's character.
A lot of people yearn to do "great" things and be noted as having done these "great " things. Gen. Yeager yearned to do things he "wanted" to do, to fully understand them, complete the task, and then move on to bigger challenges. He didn't care so much for recognition, politics, or big bucks -- although he deserved at least two of these in spades.
Two things that surprised me: 1) His great admiration for female aviators, most notably the WASP's, and his close friendship with two of aviation history's most notable female pilots -- Jackie Cochran and Pancho Barnes; 2) His outspoken views about the excessive cost of modern military aircraft and civilian space programs. Many people may frown on his criticism of the former, but if I am to trust anyone, I trust Gen. Yeager -- a man who knows how to fly and fix over 200 aircraft, and who has proven he has little interest in personal or political gain to promote any other viewpoint than what he has learned through experience and education to be true.
Why can we have more people like this man?
Video From WikiMediaCommons: File:Yeager_supersonic_flight_1947.ogg
So General Yeager if you ever read these words, I just want to say "I love you!" Ok...not in a girl crushes on boy kind of way (I am already married, and so are you). I say it in more of a "you are so awesome, I wish I could morph into you for a day" or "I wish I could go back in time and share a laugh with you at Pancho's Place" kind of way -- just to experience first-hand the life you have lived. Your character is an inspiration to me, with similar ethics I try to hold myself to, and look for in others. I wish there were more people like you in the world, but I am afraid they are few and far between. Thank you for being one in a million I can look up to!
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