Yeager makes last military flight during air show

10/28/2002 - EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- Aviation legend and retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager gave the F-15 Eagle one last ride Oct. 26, bringing his 60-year career flying military aircraft to a close in front of thousands of fans at the open house and air show here.

Yeager, with Edwards test pilot Lt. Col. Troy Fontaine in the back seat, opened the event by climbing to just over 30,000 feet and impressed the crowd with his infamous sonic boom. Yeager first broke the sound barrier at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in October 1947 when he accelerated his rocket-powered Bell X-1 to the speed of Mach 1.06 and shattered the myth of the sound barrier forever.

The crowd hushed as Yeager landed and taxied under an archway of water gushing from two Edwards fire trucks per Air Force tradition. For his final military flight, Yeager was accompanied in the air with longtime friend and colleague retired Maj. Gen. Joe Engle flying his own F-15. The two legendary test pilots have been flying together for decades.

"This is a fun day for us because we get to fly good airplanes and do something we've loved to do for some time," Yeager said.

The general announced earlier this year that 60 years of military flying is long enough.

"Now is a good time," said Yeager. "I've had a heck of good time and very few people get exposed to the things I've been exposed to. I'll keep on flying P-51s and light stuff, but I just feel it's time to quit."

Fans young and old were pleased with the opening flights. Sixteen-year-old Jennifer Thompson attended the air show with her family from Martinez, Calif.

"I was standing in the hangar when General Yeager flew by," Thompson said. "He shook the whole hangar. It was really cool."

After retiring from the Air Force in 1975 with more than 34 years of service, including combat in World War II and Vietnam, Yeager served as a consultant at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. Besides the 40 years he spent flying with his colleagues at Edwards, the general recalled some of his most memorable times as those when he was flying combat missions.

"That is why the Air Force paid me," said Yeager of his combat time. "That's how I've always looked at it. Flying was my job."

Yeager said being scared was a waste of time.

"If you can't do anything about the outcome of something, forget it," Yeager said. "Instead you better concentrate on staying alive where you are. It's just plain stupid to get so scared that it affects your performance."

Before his final military flight, the 79-year-old had some advice for pilots starting out. While he admitted having plenty of close calls, the general said good pilots know their equipment and their limitations.

"It's not being a good pilot that keeps you alive," he said. "What keeps you alive is knowing your airplane. I always wanted to know more about the airplane and its ejection seat than the guys who made them."

When asked about his favorite aircraft, Yeager said it depends on what a pilot needs the aircraft to do.

"I want the one that kills the best with the least amount of risk to me," said Yeager. "That's the facts of life and that's why you wear the uniform."