Ken Beaton: Learn how to take pleasure from living

On the set for the 1975-79 ABC show, “Welcome Back Kotter,” Mr. Kotter played by Gabe Kaplan says, “Ladies and gentlemen, your first trivia question: Who was the first person to break the sound barrier and when?”

“Arnold Horshack, your hand was raised first, what’s your answer?”

“Hu, hu, hu it was Mohammad Ali, ‘the Louisville Lip,’ in 1965!”

“I’m sorry Horshack. The answer is Captain Chuck Yeager, USAF, on October 14, 1947. He flew 665 mph at 40,000 feet above Edwards Air Force Base and the dry lakes of California.”

FYI, Yeager lived his life at top speed on the edge. He was 97 years young when he “slid into home plate” on Dec. 7, 2020 after a fantastic life!

My fellow writer, Steve Ranson, had a conflict and couldn’t attend Carson City’s Navy League Aug. 17 meeting. Since my calendar was open, I attended. The special guest speaker was Chuck’s widow, Victoria Yeager. I listened and took notes at the Gold Dust West’s banquet room as Victoria had the audience’s undivided attention. She shared some of Chuck’s stories from her soon to be released book, 101 Chuck Yeager-isms-the Wit and Wisdom of an American Hero, The Right Stuff, by Chuck Yeager and his Favorite Wingman.

Chuck was the second of five children born to Albert Hal and Susie Mae Yeager on Feb. 13, 1923 in Myra, in Lincoln County, West Virginia. Two of Chuck’s talents were having 20/7 eyesight. He could see enemy fighters 50 miles away. His other talent was his mechanical skill. By 6 years old, Chuck was able to take an engine apart, put it together and the engine ran better than before.

Chuck was a responsible child when he was 6. Before breakfast he would shoot three or four squirrels, clean them, place them in a bucket with water and to give it to his mother for the family dinner that evening.

The USAAC was renamed the United States Army Air Force on June 20, 1941. Before the War, the Air Force realized that there weren’t enough college graduates or students with two years of college so they began accepting high school graduates with at least 1.5 math credits between the ages of 18 to 22. Chuck was accepted into the Flying Sergeants Program. After he soloed, he was assigned to the air base in Tonopah where he learned to fly P-39s, with one 37mm cannon in the nose and a 50-caliber and a 30-caliber machine gun in each wing.

The U.S. military brass didn’t like the P-39’s performance. Most of the P-39s were given to the Russians as part of “Lend Lease” to fight the Germans. The Russians loved the P-39.

From Tonopah Chuck was assigned to Oroville, California, Casper, Wyoming, and Wright Patterson Air Field in Dayton, Ohio to fly a new plane briefly. Because of Chuck’s maintenance experience he was selected to do accelerated service testing, a test pilot for the P-47 “Thunderbolt” nicknamed the “Jug” because of the radial engine it looked like a milk jug. When the Eighth Air Force was stationed in the UK during the war, the Royal Air Force pilots thought “Jug” was short for Juggernaut because the “Jug” could take a large number of hits from enemy 20mm and continue to fly and destroy enemy aircraft.

When Chuck arrived in the UK, he was assigned to a squadron of Mustangs, the P-51. By March 5, 1944 he had two kills. Unfortunately, he was shot down that day. With the help of the Marqui, the French Resistance, he made it to Spain and finally back to the UK in May 1944.

The rule for pilots who were shot down was that you would be returned to the U.S. because if you flew again and were shot down and captured by the Gestapo, you could be forced to give the names of the Resistance persons who helped you escape the first time. Chuck did not want to go home. He appealed his case all the way to the Supreme Allied Commander, Gen. Eisenhower, who was given permission to allow Chuck to continue flying. Chuck thanked the general by getting five kills in the same mission. This was the headline in the U.S. military newspaper, The Stars and Stripes, “Flyer Bags 5.”

One day while Chuck was flying over a German fighter airbase he spotted the German twin engine sweptback wing fighter, the ME-262, about to land and flying at 200 mph. Chuck dove his Mustang at 500 mph and gave the 262 a burst of his six 50 calibers sending the German jet crashing into the runway.

Chuck returned from the war in early 1945 to marry Glennis on Feb. 26, 1945. Glennis was pregnant when Chuck was assigned to Wright Patterson Air Base which became the center for the conversion from propeller to supersonic jets to rocket aircraft. Because of Chuck’s flight time and maintenance background he was the most qualified to fly functional tests on every aircraft after an engine was overhauled or other repairs. He checked out 25 airplanes.

There were 125 pilots competing to be the test pilot in the Bell X-1. Col. Albert G. Boyd selected Chuck because no other pilot could duplicate Chuck’s skills in the cockpit and his coolness under pressure. Chuck became one with the aircraft he was flying. Although most of the candidates were college trained in engineering, none of them could match Chuck in the cockpit.

During his military career, Chuck flew a total of 361 military aircraft including a MIG-15. His last military flight was in 2015 when Chuck was 92 years old. Victoria mentioned that she never got air sick when Chuck was flying the aircraft. She shared, “He was an amazing man.”

Victoria’s book contains over a hundred of Chuck’s West Virginia humorous expressions. To give you an example of Chuck’s folksy humor. “The first time I saw a jet, I shot it down.” Chuck was the first fighter pilot to shoot down a German ME 262.

Before attending Victoria’s speech at the Carson City Navy League, I read Chuck’s autobiography, “Yeager: An autobiography,” by Gen. Chuck Yeager and Leo Janos. I read online everything I could about Victoria, but I was unable to learn if she had any siblings. When I made the mistake of calling her, Vicky, I was informed, “It’s Victoria,” in a calm assertive voice. At that moment, my teacher instinct told me that Victoria had more than one older brother. At the Homewood Suites by Hilton in Reno, one of my questions was, “Victoria do you have any siblings?”

She responded. “Yes, three older brothers.” For the youngest and a female in a family of three older brothers to survive, she had to be assertive and ready to defend herself. Victoria’s brothers helped raise a woman who will continue to be successful. FYI, Victoria had the best flight instructor in the world give her flying lessons before she earned her pilot’s license. Victoria, Chuck will always be in the cockpit with you.