Fun Facts
- Chuck named his Bell X-1 'Glamorous Glennis' after his girlfriend, Glennis Dickhouse, who soon became Glennis Yeager when they got married.
- He has flown more than 200 different types of aircrafts.
- Chuck earned the nickname 'Ace-In-A-Day' after gunning down 5 German aircrafts in one day.
- He was penalized for a week after he was testing the P-39 and crashed into a tree in a farmers field.
- Two days before Chuck was supposed to fly the Bell X-1, he fell off and was trampled by a horse resulting in 2 broken ribs. Instead of telling his flight managers about his injury, because he knew the flight would be grounded, he went to a local veterinarian who fixed him up enough for his flight in the days to come.
- His pain following the injury was so intense that he was unable to close the hatch door of the Bell X-1 so his military friend Jack Ridley rigged up a broom to help him close it.
- Chuck trained the first woman to ever break the sound barrier, Jackie Cochran.
- He originally enlisted as a private in the Air Force because he lacked the education for flight training.
- Due to the war outbreak, need for pilots, and the fact that he had 20/10 vision, Chuck was finally accepted into flight school.
- Yeager was awarded a bronze star for helping a wounded soldier cross the Pyrenees.
- Chuck could type 60 words per minute, which was impressive for the 1940's.
- A man named George Welch claimed to have broken the sound barrier a few months before Chuck, but without proper documentation, the claims were deemed invalid, and Chuck got the fame and recognition.
Chuck during WW2 in flight school.
Chuck with the Bell X-1, Glamorous Glennis.
Chuck posing with Jackie Cochran, first woman to break the sound barrier.
Chuck and Glennis Yeager at their wedding.