Chuck Yeager
I have known about the record-breaking exploits of Chuck Yeager for a long time, probably since I was in elementary school, though I can’t remember when or why I learned about him. Maybe it was one of those children’s books about jets and airplanes or world records. I recently read his autobiography and decided to write some of the things I learned. When talking about Yeager with others I was surprised at how many didn’t know who he was. How could anyone not know who Chuck Yeager was? Someone I thought was as well-known as Neil Armstrong, a “real American hero”, the first person to travel faster than the speed of sound, breaking the so called ‘sound barrier’ traveling over 800mph in the X-1 rocket powered aircraft. Admittedly, as much as any country likes to have heroes to admire, and are probably just as likely to turn anyone with above average accomplishments into a national icon, was Yeager worthy of such a title?
In his own words what made Chuck Yeager the one they said had ‘the right stuff’?
“There is no such thing as a natural born pilot. Whatever my aptitudes and talents, becoming a proficient pilot was hard work, really a lifetime’s learning experience… experience is everything, the eagerness to learn how and why every piece of equipment works is everything, and luck is everything too.”
Yeager admits that he was born with unusually good eye sight and coordination,
“I was mechanically oriented, understood machines easily, my nature was to stay cool in tight spots… all I know is I worked my tail off to learn how to fly and worked hard at it all the way, and in the end the one reason why I was better than the average pilot was because I flew more than anybody else. If there is such a thing as the right stuff in piloting it is experience.”
When faced with the many life-threatening emergencies he experienced as a fighter pilot and test pilot his vast experience and comprehensive understanding of the machine he operated allowed him to react instinctively, especially in situations that would have been, and was, the end for too many other pilots. Even when facing opponents in superior aircraft Yeager seemed to always have the upper-hand. He insisted that a superior pilot is always more deadly than a less experienced pilot in a superior aircraft.
Lesser known to me were the humble circumstances of his childhood in West Virginia, that he enlisted in the Army Air Forces and became an aircraft mechanic, ineligible for flight training due to his lack of education. So how would an enlisted Private, aircraft mechanic, without an advanced formal education become a flight officer, World War II flying ace, earn a commission, become a record-breaking test pilot and brigadier general?
Yeager and the X-1, the namesake of Glennis Yeager
Hard work and lots of it creates opportunities, having the courage to take advantage of an opportunity and gain experience, and luck. Luck being the circumstances of his life, being born during a time when good pilots were in demand, and good pilots had ample opportunity to fly and dogfight. Then having the flight experience at a time when good test pilots were in demand, at a time when new flight technologies were being developed. Born a few years earlier or later and the circumstances may have been different enough that Yeager would not have become the most famous pilot that ever lived. Not to say that he wouldn’t still have become pilot or renowned for something else, since we are all greater than the circumstances that shape us. But it is a lesson to have courage, look for opportunities and get as much experience as possible in whatever field drives us. This is much in line with the theme of a previously reviewed book, Outliers by Malcom Gladwell.
Another important part of this story that is just as apparent as courage, experience and luck, is joy or passion, however you want to characterize the absolute need that Yeager had to fly. Interestingly though, it did not start that way. As he recalls his first experience in an airplane as a flight mechanic made him sick, a decision he initially regretted. But with the right amount of courage and consistency he overcame any beginner’s trepidation and what he once had feared became his life. So much so that even after being shot down during his first tour in Europe, and painfully evading Germans for months until he was able to escape with the help of the French resistance, he appealed to the Army up to the highest levels, even all the way to General Eisenhower to be able to stay and return to his unit. This despite a policy preventing all evadees from returning to combat fearing that if they were re-captured it may lead to them divulging information about the resistance. Yeager had to fly as much as he had to eat, breathe, and sleep. His dedication allowed him to endure the other hardships of life, never making more than a junior officer’s salary, which was perhaps more a hardship to his stalwart wife Glennis and children. Much could also be said about his dedicated wife, who sacrificed a couple decades as nearly a single mother so Yeager could fulfill his need to fly. But their patience would pay off in time and whatever we might define as ‘living the good life’ would come along with many adventures they would probably never trade.
In trying to apply this lesson to my own circumstances I found that, just as Yeager probably did, we don’t recognize the magnitude of our actions in the moment or even within years of the moment. It is only after collective years of action that looking back can offer the satisfaction of accomplishment. The thing we may be able to recognize in the moment is passion, excitement, or joy. Not the fleeting kind of excitement that comes from a brief adventure, but something more enduring and selfless. It comes when working on something that is greater than ourselves. What are you passionate about? Are you working in or on something you love?
Yeager continued to fly throughout his entire life, even after his eventual retirement from the Air Force. Having flown or lead squadrons all over the world, through many wars, in support of many countries, training the pilots who would become the first astronauts, testing and developing the first modern jet powered aircraft, he never slowed down. Yeager died just last year in December of 2020. He frequently remarked on the equal if not greater contributions of those who went before, who “augered in” before their time. Those whose names lie on the many street signs and buildings of the Air Force bases around the world. A reminder to be humble and grateful for the opportunities that we are given, don’t let them pass by.
“Living to a ripe old age is not and end in itself, the trick is to enjoy the years remaining.”
Humility, Courage, Experience, Passion, Luck. Working on something that is greater than ourselves. I feel like this is the recipe for heroics. The right stuff.
