YEAGER: An Autobiography

by Chuck & Leo Janos Yeager ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 4, 1985

The secret of his success, claims Yeager, who has seen many bases and streets named for fallen friends in the course of a truly heroic career, is: ""I always managed to live to fly another day."" With plenty of touchdowns to settle scores and offer insights on aviation's passage from jets to spacecraft, Yeager recounts his odyssey from rural West Virginia to productive superstardom as the test pilot who first flew faster than sound. In addition to Yeager's engaging first-person account, the narrative includes reminiscences from family members and colleagues who help put the living legend's remarkable exploits in clearer perspective. Following WW II service in Europe, where he escaped occupied France to become a doable ace (with 11 kills, including five in one day), Yeager stuck with the peacetime Air Force. Despite his lack of a college education, his formidable skills landed him in the cockpit of the Bell X-1 for its historic 1947 flight. Once past the sound barrier, though, Yeager seldom slowed down. Unlike the astronauts who followed him, Yeager never cashed in on his fame while with the military. His talents did earn him a series of rewarding assignments, including stints in West Germany, Vietnam, and Pakistan (during the border war with India), plus command of the Aerospace Research Pilots School. In the latter post, Yeager ran afoul of activists who mistakenly assumed his insistence on equality of opportunity meant equality of results. Yeager's deeds also opened the way to friendships with the disparate likes of aviatrix Jacqueline Cochrane, her husband Floyd Odium, and Pancho Barnes--the proprietress of a raunchy desert dive near Edwards Air Force Base. Now retired (as a brigadier general), Yeager modestly dismisses Wolfian conceits about ""the right stuff."" Nonetheless, the story of his achievement-filled life, which makes lively--frequently inspiring--reading, suggests otherwise.

Pub Date: July 4, 1985

ISBN: 0553256742

Page Count: -

Publisher: Bantam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1985

Categories: NONFICTION