Chuck Yeager is probably one of the best know Aviators of our time. Born on the 13th of February 1923, he joined the US Air Corps in September 1941. After graduating flight training he was assigned to the 363rd Fighter squadron of the 357th Fighter Group. He scored his first victory  on the 4th of March 1944, but the following day he was shot down over France, evading capture he managed to escape to Spain. After returning to England he returned to combat duties. Yeager became an 'Ace in a day' , leading a bomber escort over Bremen on the 12th of October 1944. As he closed in on one Bf-109, the pilot broke left and collided with his wingman; both bailed out, giving Yeager credit for two victories without firing a shot. In a sharp dogfight, Yeager's vision, flying skills, and gunnery gave him three more quick kills.  In late 1944 the Luftwaffe's new Me 262 jets started to appear, but went right after the bombers, avoiding dogfights with the Mustangs. Whenever they wanted, they could just open it up, and pull away from the P-51s with a 150 MPH speed advantage. One day Yeager caught one on its approach to an airstrip. Flying through dense flak, he downed the jet. Chuck Yeager  finished the War with 11.5 victories. Again like many of the great flyers Yeager was not done with flying, he became one of the worlds most famous test pilots when on the 14th of October 1947 he became the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound in the Bell X-1. 

Still not done with flying Yeager was to set another record when on the 12th of December 1953 he became the first man to fly twice the speed of sound in the Bell X-1A. As if that was not enough Chuck Yeager was to fly fighters again this time over Vietnam flying 127 combat missions. He retired form the Air Force in 1975. Chuck Yeager is truly one of  the all time great aviators.

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