Chuck Yeagar The Boy Who Would Become A Man - 1210 Words

Chuck Yeagar was born Febuary 13 1923.The tiny town of Hamlin, West Virginia sits nestled in the Appalachian foothills, just about as far from worldwide acclaim as anyplace that’s barely a dot on the map. Yet it was here that the boy who would become a legend became a man. The second son of Albert Hal and Susie Mae Yeager, Chuck was always a curious kid. When he wasn’t climbing trees or exploring in the woods, he could often be found by Grandpa Yeager’s side watching, listening, and learning how to become a skillful hunter and fisherman. Grandpa Yeager also kindled in young Chuck an interest and respect for nature and the outdoors that remains to this day. The Yeager family moved to Hamlin when Chuck was five. The town’s population of†¦show more content†¦Yeager’s first mount was a P-51B, which he named Glamurus Glen after his fiancee, Glennis Faye Dickhouse. Yeager entered combat in February 1944 and claimed one Me 109 before being shot down on his eighth combat mission on 5 March. With the help of the French underground, he evaded capture and rejoined his unit in England. Carrying his appeal to return to combat all the way up the chain to Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, he resumed combat operations in August, flying Glamorous Glenn II, a P-51C with a â€Å"Malcolm Hood† canopy. Soon, Yeager was flying the P-51D model, which he named Glamorous Glen III, and in which he achieved most of his aerial victories. Blessed with exceptional 20/10 vision, Yeager had eyes that could â€Å"see forever.† He combined this advantage with cunning, concentration, relentless ferocity and superb p iloting skills to rack up a final total of 12.5 aerial victories—including five Me109s on 12 October and four FW 190s on 27 November. Now, a full colonel, Yeager returned to Edwards as deputy director of flight test in 1961. The following year he took over as commander of the new USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS), where he presided over the development of a first-of-its-kind institution designed to prepare U.S. military test pilots for spaceflight. Building on the existing test pilot school curriculum, ARPS offered rigorous,