Legacy Leader Charles Yeager

Legacy Leader Charles Yeager
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Abstract
From this paper, we explore Charles ‘Chuck’ Yeager as a legacy leader who achieved and set records during his time as a United States air force pilot and after his retirement. Yeager who was born in 1923 enlisted to the army air corps as a private. He is dubbed as one of the greatest pilots of all his. Some of his successes was escaping capture after his P-51 jet was downed over France. He downed five Germany plane two of which no short was fired. Chuck Yeager has been credited for breaking the sound barrier after he was chosen as a pilot for Bell X-1 after completing his training at the flight performance school. He also broke the second sound barrier with a Mach 2 speed. Chuck Yeager continued his service in the United States air force, and in 1954 he was dispatched to France as a commander of the bomber squadron. Because of his achievements he was named at the national aviation hall of fame. Yeager has also become a celebrity and has appeared in many documentaries.
Keywords: air force, barrier, commander, sound, Yeager
Introduction
Charles ‘Chuck’ Yaeger was born on February 13, 1923, and he mainly grew up in the town of Hamlin. Soon after his graduation from high school in 1941, he was conscripted into the army air corps as a private. By proving that he was an outstanding pilot during the training period, Chuck Yeager was enlisted to the 8th air force for battle operations during the Second World War.

When his P-51 Mustang plane was downed over France, he avoided being captured and run-away to Spain. He had an option of going home, but he requested to go back to combat this request went way up to General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
When his request was granted, Chuck Yeager was back in action by August 1944, he was given credit for the downing of five German fighter planes in a day, and two of this was accomplished devoid of any firing of a single shot after he flew against Messerschmitt Bf 109 plane which made the pilot panic. After he finished the war, he had 11.5 official victories one of them being first to air to air victories. Having completed over sixty aerial missions in Yeager returned to the countryside early 1945. Chuck Yeager had many legacies during his life and demonstrated outstanding combat leadership and flying skills. From his 1986 memoirs, Chuck Yeager has recounted that both sides of the war had committed a lot of atrocities, and he recounted how he went on a mission to strafe on anything which moved.
Breaking the sound barrier
Yeager was selected as the pilot of Bell X-1 rocket in 1947 after attending flight performance school. He christened the plane ‘Glamorous Glennis’ after his wife. On October 14th Yeager attain a speed of 700mph at the height of 43000 feet hence breaking the record by becoming the first individual to break the sound barrier that is Mach-1. Notwithstanding this speed being historical, it was classified, and it was then released to the general public in June 1948. After this achievement, Chuck Yeager was awarded for his achievements the Collier trophy and Mackay trophy; Collier trophy was presented to him by President Harry S. Truman. Being one of the best military pilots, Chuck Yeager in 1953 was chosen to fly the Russian MiG that had been in the United States possession after a North Korean defected to South Korea making the fast American do so. During this year also he was able to set a new speed record of 1650 miles in an hour in a Bell X-1A. Because of his efforts again he was invited to the white house by the President of the United States, President Eisenhower and awarded the Harmon International Trophy.
Continued service
As one of the most experienced fighters in the air force, he held many wings and squadron commands. In the 1954 Chuck Yeager was sent to France to be the head of the 417th Bombardier bomber squadron, before returning to the US to supervise the first fighter at the George air force base. He was then selected to become the head of the air force aerospace research school for astronaut training in the year 1962. After all these assignments Chuck Yeager was back to combat tasks in 1966 as the commander of 405th fighter which stationed in the Philippines. After being promoted to become a brigadier general, and he became a commander at the seventeen air force which was based in Germany in 1969 (Yeager et al. 1985). He was then named as the defense advisor to Pakistan in 1971 and 1973 the time he was received to the national aviation hall of fame he became the head of the aerospace safety at Norton air force base which is based in California. In 1975, he retired from the airforce after completing his active duty, though he occasionally continued flying for NASA and United States air force as a consulting pilot.
In the 1980s, Chuck Yeager was connected to general motors to publicize ac Delco which was the company’s automotive parts division. He was the appointed by President Reagan to the commission which investigated space shuttles Challenger explosion (Cochran 1987). During the 1980s and early 1990, he set numerous wide-ranging flight performance for speed, endurance, and range. One of the flights which he performed was emergency landing as a result of fuel exhaustion. At this time also he worked as an advisor to the electronic simulators video games which featured some of the anecdotes and quotes from him, and this was well received by all those who to part in this test.
Becoming a celebrity later
Yeager was predominantly featured in 1979 book by Tom Wolfes, which investigated the development of the United States program, he was in appearance as a cameo in 1983 film adaptation. He became a celebrated celebrity endorser and was able to release two autobiographies in a decade. In 1985, Yeager was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. When commemorating the breaking of the sound barrier on October 1947, he took to the skies and was able to thrust past Mach 1 again. He repeated the same in 2012 when he was 89 years old to commemorate 65 years historical date.
References
Cochran, J., & Brinley, M. B. (1987). Jackie Cochran. Bantam.
Yeager, C., & Janos, L. (1985). Yeager: an autobiography. Toronto: Bantam Books.