Chuck Yeager passed away today

[Borderland]

Not to take away from Yeager at all (like for many here, he's one of my heroes) but, if I recall correctly the ME 262 was on landing approach when he shot it down. Which brings in Erich Hartmann's observation (via Jeff Cooper):



So roughly, tactics trump hardware or, maybe, it's the Indian not the arrow...

Back on topic, Yeager's passing diminishes us.

From his autobiography I recall that his exceptional eyesight was a great leverage in combat. He spotted the enemy long before those in his formation did and long before German pilots spotted them. His vision was better than 20/20 or what might be described today as 20/15 which is rare in the general population. If a fighter pilot in ww2 can climb to a higher altitude undetected a shit storm awaits. Thus a surprise attack that an opponent never knew was coming. P-47 pilots knew the drill very well. I had the pleasure of knowing a P-47 pilot who flew missions in WW2. He had some interesting stories.

Here is a good documentary of a fighter pilots woes in ww2. If you don't want the full meal deal start at 27 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMGk_Fk_iJk

[Trigger]

Nickel on the grass . . .

[Xrslug]

https://twitter.com/@twitter/status/1060715511699382272?s=20

That detail was inexplicably omitted from the book about WWII fighter planes in my elementary school library 😄. In a funny way, it makes it a better story. Love his tweet about it.

[TC215]

From his autobiography I recall that his exceptional eyesight was a great leverage in combat. He spotted the enemy long before those in his formation did and long before German pilots spotted them. His vision was better than 20/20 or what might be described today as 20/15 which is rare in the general population. If a fighter pilot in ww2 can climb to a higher altitude undetected a shit storm awaits. Thus a surprise attack that an opponent never knew was coming. P-47 pilots knew the drill very well. I had the pleasure of knowing a P-47 pilot who flew missions in WW2. He had some interesting stories.

The P-47 was a beast, and outperformed the Mustang in a lot of ways. My granddad flew P-40’s and B-17’s, but desperately wanted to fly P-47’s.

[Spartan1980]

From his autobiography I recall that his exceptional eyesight was a great leverage in combat. He spotted the enemy long before those in his formation did and long before German pilots spotted them. His vision was better than 20/20 or what might be described today as 20/15 which is rare in the general population. If a fighter pilot in ww2 can climb to a higher altitude undetected a shit storm awaits. Thus a surprise attack that an opponent never knew was coming. P-47 pilots knew the drill very well. I had the pleasure of knowing a P-47 pilot who flew missions in WW2. He had some interesting stories.

Beat me to it. I was going to add this almost to the word. So I'll just add that I saw a report that Yeager still had 20/20 vision into his '60s. When I hear "the right stuff" associated with him I think mostly genetics is what he had in spades. That coupled with his work ethic and humble down to earth values he was the perfect role model for little boys growing up to emulate. He also doesn't get the credit he deserves for his aeronautical engineering abilities.