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shared by Nick B on 19 Mar 14 - No Cached

Born on Feb. 13, 1923, and raised in the hills of West Virginia near the town of Myra, Charles “Chuck” Yeager entered military service as soon as he could, joining 17 classmates who enlisted after high school graduation to fight in World War II.
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Breaking the Sound Barrier
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Assigned to a host of test flights, Yeager was soon selected as pilot during the Air Force’s attempt to break the sound barrier; he would fly a super-sonic plane called the X-1, nicknamed Glamorous Glennis in honor of his wife. Rocket-like and so tight and compact that it had to be dropped from a cargo plane to conserve fuel, the X-1 was the United States’s chance to top Mach 1.
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Pushing the plane to Mach 1.05, Yeager witnessed the sky turn a “deep purple and all at once the stars and the moon came out—the sun shone at the same time. … He was simply looking out into space,” according to Tom Wolfe’s “The Right Stuff,” chronicling America’s race for space exploration.
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Recognized within the Air Force for his achievements, it was not until Tom Wolfe’s book was published in 1979, and the movie version was released in 1983, that Yeager’s name became internationally known.
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