PILOT

Chuck Yeager

1923 - 2020

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Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager ( YAY-gər, February 13, 1923 – December 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight. Yeager was raised in Hamlin, West Virginia. His career began in World War II as a private in the United States Army, assigned to the Army Air Forces in 1941. After serving as an aircraft mechanic, in September 1942, he entered enlisted pilot training and upon graduation was promoted to the rank of flight officer (the World War II Army Air Force version of the Army's warrant officer), later achieving most of his aerial victories as a P-51 Mustang fighter pilot on the Western Front, where he was credited with shooting down 11.5 enemy aircraft. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Chuck Yeager is the 14th most popular pilot, the 2,000th most popular biography from United States (down from 1,711th in 2019) and the 5th most popular American Pilot.

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Among PILOTS

Among pilots, Chuck Yeager ranks 14 out of 71Before him are Adolf Galland, Ernst Udet, Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet, Francis Gary Powers, Ivan Kozhedub, and Hermann Graf. After him are Marina Raskova, Valery Chkalov, Mathias Rust, Joseph Kittinger, Amy Johnson, and René Fonck.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1923, Chuck Yeager ranks 75Before him are Cliff Robertson, Zlatko Čajkovski, Chaleo Yoovidhya, Walter M. Miller Jr., Norman Mailer, and Edgar F. Codd. After him are Hwang Jang-yop, Frederick Herzberg, Valentina Cortese, Conrad Bain, Yuriko, Princess Mikasa, and Lloyd Shapley. Among people deceased in 2020, Chuck Yeager ranks 96Before him are Conchata Ferrell, Paul H. O'Neill, Ken Robinson, Momčilo Krajišnik, Kelly Preston, and Olof Thunberg. After him are Clive Cussler, Wilford Brimley, Mahmoud Jibril, Carl Reiner, Ida Haendel, and Gérard Houllier.

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Chuck Yeager ranks 2,000 out of 20,380Before him are Joseph Greenberg (1915), Henry A. Wallace (1888), Rollo May (1909), Jean Arthur (1900), Néstor Carbonell (1967), and Jake LaMotta (1922). After him are Lucy Liu (1968), James Heckman (1944), River Phoenix (1970), Janet Gaynor (1906), Scott Hall (1958), and James Patterson (1947).

Among PILOTS In United States

Among pilots born in United States, Chuck Yeager ranks 5Before him are Charles Lindbergh (1902), Amelia Earhart (1897), Chesley Sullenberger (1951), and Francis Gary Powers (1929). After him are Joseph Kittinger (1928), Claire Lee Chennault (1890), Jacqueline Cochran (1906), Blanche Stuart Scott (1884), Bessie Coleman (1892), Wally Funk (1939), and Jerrie Cobb (1931).