I have often wondered why is it that “test pilots” are always missing from the “most dangerous jobs” lists that do the rounds of the Internet. These guys should be topping the list in my opinion and the guy who’s venerated as the big daddy of all test pilots is Chuck Yeager. Even at the age of 85 years, he’s not to be messed with as Cingular is discovering to its chagrin. The company made the mistake of referring to Yeager in ad without his permission and now his lawsuit against the telecom company is whizzing at Mach 1.
Chuck Yeager’s feats are legendary and what adds charm to his achievements is that he rose through the ranks, starting as an aircraft mechanic and retiring as a brigadier general. He was later promoted to major general after retirement. As a test pilot, Chuck had the distinction of becoming the first man to break the sound barrier flying an experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 13,700 m (45,000 ft). He achieved this feat while carrying two broken ribs sustained during a horse-riding incident two days before the test flight. Chuck was a test pilot for several aircraft prototypes and rocket planes and went on to establish several speed and altitude records.
During his long and distinguished career, Chuck has had his share of accidents and brushes with death. In 1953 while testing a X-1A, Yeager lost control at 81,000 feet and plummeted 51,000 feet in 51 seconds before regaining control at 29,000 feet. In 1963, while testing an NF-104A rocket-augmented aerospace trainer he had to make an emergency ejection after the craft lost control 21 miles up in the air and then crashed.
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