Yeager is now the only surviving member of that elite...
Perhaps I spent way too many hours watching Discovery's "Wings" channel before it became "The Military Channel", perhaps it's my infatuation with aircraft since my childhood, but I've seen a lot of footage of these men, I read their exploits in my youth and was fortunate enough to see them telling their own stories on "Wings" over the last few years.
Crossfield was the first man to fly twice the speed of sound, among other things. Yeager went out not long after and bested it to almost 2.5 times. They had quite a rivalry, Yeager being the military's pilot, and Crossfield being the civilian representing what became NASA.
NPR's reminiscence included a story about one of the two X-15 fires Crossfield survived; when he put the burning plane down it's "back" broke and he couldn't open the canopy to get out. His mechanic got to it and was trying to get him out, flames burning both inside and outside the aircraft. Crossfield, enveloped in flame in the tiny cockpit was trying to shoo the mechanic away because the man was getting burnt in trying to get him out!
Most every aircraft you've ever seen or flown in owes something to these men who took those things that were dreamt up on drawing boards, before computers, out to see if they worked, and if they didn't tried to figure out why. So many things we take for granted were first checked out, made "right" and improved by them.
Now, when a computer can tell you if it will or won't work before you ever build it, it might seem "crazy" to risk your life that way. Our lives are very safe and sane-thanks to these legends and heroes!
alan
6 comments:
'Our lives are very safe and sane-thanks to these legends and heroes!'
amen. nice post alan :)
I couldn't agree more.
STB
fascinating post. i'm not nearly good enough at knowing things in history like this so i appreciate someone who is so knowledgeable. thanks for the info, i'll not take them for granted again.
Written with great passion, alan, as it should be. Yes, heroes and legends.
back at you ~~lol~~~ alan :o)- off to visit the eagle aerie now.
cheers,
pj
p.s. by the way the Cauliflower soup was delish!
Wow, when I heard that Crossfield died in a plane crash at 85 years old - a plane he was piloting no less - I was sad. Sad because we've lost yet another of my generation's heroes and sad that I was probably the only one among my circle of friends who even knew who he was and how significant his life was.
I'm glad to know you Alan and know there is someone else out there with whom I can commiserate.
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