An Uncommon Remembrance of Chuck Yeager
Chuck Yeager, best known as the first man to fly faster than sound, passed away this week. The aviation community felt the loss of this giant, though, at 97, no one could say he didn’t live life to the fullest. In researching my latest book, Fighting for Space, I teased out the new-to-me friendship between Jackie Cochran and Chuck Yeager, and in the process, uncovered a lot of less familiar pictures of both aviation legends. So in honour of Chuck’s life, I thought it’d be fun to share this facet of his life. (A number of these pictures I took with my phone so they aren’t clean scans. Just a heads up!)
Jackie and Chuck first met in 1947. They hit it off immediately, sparking a friendship that would last until Jackie’s death in 1980.
When Jackie paid a visit to Stuart Symington soon after in the fall of 1947, she found he wasn’t alone in his office. Chuck Yeager was there, too, the handsome, twenty-four-year-old pilot with a shock of dark hair whom Jackie knew by reputation. Chuck’s flight hadn’t been publicly announced yet, but aviation insiders had heard that weeks earlier, on October 14, 1947, Chuck had flown the rocket-powered Bell X-1 experimental aircraft faster than sound in level flight. He was the first person in history to break the so-called sound barrier. Jackie wasted no time introducing herself. “I’m Jackie Cochran,” she said, pumping his…
