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Chuck Yeager

Chuck Yeager Quotes

Test pilot

Chuck Yeager, an American test pilot, was born on February 13, 1923. He holds a significant place in aviation history for his successful flight of the X-1 supersonic aircraft. His career is filled with groundbreaking achievements that have had a profound impact on the aviation industry.

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Famous Chuck Yeager Quotes

“Just before you break through the sound barrier, the cockpit shakes the most.”

Sound Break Shakes Barriers Break Through Cockpit

Author:Chuck Yeager

“If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing.”

Ifs Use Next Walks Airplane Next Day Outstanding Landing

Author:Chuck Yeager

“In 1966, NASA took over in space, and it has been a bureaucratic mess ever since.”

Has Beens Space Mess Nasa

Author:Chuck Yeager

“The one word you use in military flying is duty. It's your duty. You have no control over outcome, no control over pick-and-choose. It's duty.”

Use Military Duty Picks Flying Outcomes One Word

Author:Chuck Yeager

“It wasn't that the X-1 would kill you, it was the systems in the X-1 that would kill you.”

Author:Chuck Yeager

“The secret of my success is that I always managed to live to fly another day.”

Men Life Age Success Time Secret Another Day Secret Of My Success

Author:Chuck Yeager

“I ran the astronaut school for six years, and I was the commandant and when I finished in '65, 26 of my guys went into space as NASA astronauts that I trained.”

Years School Guy Space Six Finished Ran Astronaut Nasa

Author:Chuck Yeager

“There is no kind of ultimate goal to do something twice as good as anyone else can. It's just to do the job as best you can. If it turns out good, fine. If it doesn't, that's the way it goes.”

Ifs Way Kind Jobs Turns Goal Fine Ultimate Ultimate Goal

Author:Chuck Yeager

“At 42,000' in approximately level flight, a third cylinder was turned on. Acceleration was rapid and speed increased to .98 Mach. The needle of the machmeter fluctuated at this reading momentarily, then passed off the scale. Assuming that the off-scale reading remained linear, it is estimated that 1.05 Mach was attained at this time.”

Reading Levels Thirds Assuming Speed Scales Flight Aviation Rapids Needles Linear Acceleration Cylinders

Author:Chuck Yeager

“Leveling off at 42,000 feet, I had thirty percent of my fuel, so I turned on rocket chamber three and immediately reached .96 Mach. I noticed that the faster I got, the smoother the ride. Suddenly the Mach needle began to fluctuate. It went up to .965 Mach - then tipped right off the scale ... We were flying supersonic. And it was a smooth as a baby's bottom; Grandma could be sitting up there sipping lemonade.”

Three Feet Baby Percent Sitting Bottom Flying Scales Flight Faster Thirty Fuel Aviation Smooth Chamber Rockets Needles Grandma Lemonade Sipping Sitting Up

Book:Yeager: An Autobiography

Source: Yeager: An Autobiography

“Hey Ridley, that Machometer is acting screwy. It just went off the scale on me.”

Acting Scales Flight Hey Aviation

Author:Chuck Yeager

“As we went through mach one, the nose started dropping, so we just cranked that horizontal stabilizer down to keep the nose up. We got it above mach one, and once we got it above the speed of sound, then you have supersonic flow over the whole airplane, so you have no more shock waves on it that are causing buffeting...You really don't think about the outcome of any kind of a flight, whether it's combat, or any other kinds of flights, because you really have no control over it.”

Thinking Kind Whole Sound Flow Wave Speed Flight Noses Outcomes Shock Aviation Over It Combat Airplane Dropping Horizontal

Author:Chuck Yeager

“You concentrate on what you are doing, to do the best job you can, to stay out of a serious situation. That’s the way the X-1 was.”

Way Jobs Situation Serious Flight Aviation Do The Best Best Job

Author:Chuck Yeager

“I don't think about life everlasting. If something doesn't have scientific evidence to back it up, I don't believe it. I'm a straight shooter.”

Ifs Thinking Believe Evidence Don't Believe Everlasting Shooter Scientific Evidence

Author:Chuck Yeager

“I have no regrets about my life. People ask, "If you had to do it all over again, would you do it differently?" No. That's speculation.”

People Ifs Asks Regret Speculation No Regrets Have No Regrets

Author:Chuck Yeager

“Everybody that I've ever seen that enjoyed their job was very good at it.”

Jobs Very Good Enjoyed

Author:Chuck Yeager

“It's your duty to fly the airplane. If you get killed in it, you don't know anything about it anyway. Duty is paramount. It's that simple if you're a military guy. You don't say 'I'm not going to do that - that's dangerous.' If it's your duty to do it, that's the way it is.”

Ifs Knows Way Guy Simple Military Dangerous Duty Airplane Paramount

Author:Chuck Yeager

“You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can't, you do the next best thing. You back up but you don't give up.”

Giving Long Next Giving Up Best Things Don't Give Up

Book:Yeager: An Autobiography

Source: Yeager: An Autobiography

“You don't concentrate on risks. You concentrate on results. No risk is too great to prevent the necessary job from getting done.”

Inspirational Done Jobs Leadership Results Focus Risk Dare Motivated Risk It Risk-taking Great Risk Risk And Reward

Author:Chuck Yeager

“Rules are made for people who aren't willing to make up their own.”

People Made Willing

Author:Chuck Yeager

“Most pilots learn, when they pin on their wings and go out and get in a fighter, especially, that one thing you don't do, you don't believe anything anybody tells you about an airplane.”

Believe One Thing Wings Don't Believe Fighter Aviation Pilots Airplane Pins Great Aviation

Author:Chuck Yeager

“If you want to grow old as a pilot, you've got to know when to push it, and when to back off.”

Ifs Knows Want Grows Flight Aviation Pilots Great Aviation Military Aviation

Author:Chuck Yeager

“I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the cockpit.”

Made Dying Machines Flying Aviation Airplane Equipment Emergencies Respectful Aeroplanes Great Aviation Pilots And Flying Cockpit Airplanes And Flying Fear Of Flying

Book:Yeager: An Autobiography

Source: Yeager: An Autobiography

“There's no such thing as a natural-born pilot.”

Born Natural Flight Aviation Pilots Great Aviation

Book:Yeager: An Autobiography

Source: Yeager: An Autobiography

“The first time I ever saw a jet, I shot it down.”

Firsts Saws Military Shots First Time Aviation Combat Jet Aircraft Military Aviation

Author:Chuck Yeager

“After about 30 minutes I puked all over my airplane. I said to my self, "Man, you made a big mistake."”

Men Made Said Self Bigs Mistake Minutes Flight Aviation Airplane Big Mistake

Author:Chuck Yeager

“I have flown in just about everything, with all kinds of pilots in all parts of the world - British, French, Pakistani, Iranian, Japanese, Chinese - and there wasn't a dime's worth of difference between any of them except for one unchanging, certain fact: the best, most skillful pilot has the most experience.”

World Kind Facts Certain Differences British Flying All Kinds Chinese Aviation Pilots Iranian Dimes Skillful Great Aviation Unchanging Pilots And Flying

Author:Chuck Yeager

“All that I am ... I owe to the Air Force.”

Force Air Air Force

Author:Chuck Yeager

“There is no such thing as a natural born pilot. Whatever my aptitudes or talents, becoming a proficient pilot was hard work, really a lifetime's learning experience. For the best pilots, flying is an obsession, the one thing in life they must do continually. The best pilots fly more than the others; that's why they're the best. Experience is everything. The eagerness to learn how and why every piece of equipment works is everything. And luck is everything, too.”

Source: Yeager: An Autobiography

“The best pilots fly more than the others; that's why they're the best.”

Book:Yeager: An Autobiography

Source: Yeager: An Autobiography

“What good does it do to be afraid? It doesn't help anything. You better try and figure out what's happening and correct it.”

Trying Doe Helping Figures Happenings

Author:Chuck Yeager

“Unfortunately, many people do not consider fun an important item on their daily agenda. For me, that was always a high priority in whatever I was doing.”

People Important Fun Priorities Agendas Items

Book:Yeager: An Autobiography

Source: Yeager: An Autobiography

“At the moment of truth, there are either reasons or results.”

Reason Moments Results Moment Of Truth

Author:Chuck Yeager

“Later, I realized that the mission had to end in a let-down because the real barrier wasn't in the sky but in our knowledge and experience of supersonic flight.”

Real Ends Sky Experience Missions I Realized Flight Barriers Let Down Knowledge And Experience

Book:Yeager: An Autobiography

Source: Yeager: An Autobiography

“Never wait for trouble.”

Waiting Trouble

Author:Chuck Yeager

“That to me is a bunch of crap trying to shoot guys up into damned space. What they're going to do is they're going to wipe out half a dozen people one of these days, and that will be the end of it.”

People Trying Ends Guy Space Half Bunch These Days Dozen Crap Wipe

Author:Chuck Yeager

About the Author

Born: February 13, 1923
Known for: Test pilot
Quotes: 36

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Books & Sources

Yeager: An AutobiographyRelated source material

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