YEAGER'S FLIGHT WILL END AN ERA.Byline: Daily News EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - Aviation legend Chuck Yeager  This page is currently protected from editing until disputes have been resolved. visited last week to chat with airmen and to prepare for his opening flight at the Oct. 26 open house and air show. As of next month, the 79-year-old retired brigadier general and test pilot will have been flying military aircraft for more than 60 years and says the Oct. 26 flight will be his last. ``I have decided that during the open house and air show I'll make a sonic son·ic adj. Of, relating to, or determined by audible sound. boom in the F-15, but 60 years is long enough for me to be flying military airplanes,'' Yeager said. Yeager ``retired'' from military flying once before, in 1997, but came back for the 2000 Edwards show. Yeager said he is not giving up flying altogether. He plans to continue flying P-51 Mustangs, which he piloted in World War II, and various light aircraft. Yeager will fly during the open house in an F-15 Eagle with longtime long·time adj. Having existed or persisted for a long time: a longtime friend; a longtime resident of Detroit. longtime Adjective friend Joe Engle, a retired major general. ``It's very unusual that we can still do the opening together,'' said Yeager. ``But the Air Force and the Flight Test Center have given us the opportunity and we are taking advantage of it.'' Yeager said he has been ``very, very lucky'' to fly military aircraft for six decades. Maj. Gen. Doug Pearson, commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center, called Yeager ``a piece of our heritage here at Edwards.'' After retiring from the Air Force with more than 34 years of service including combat in World War II and Vietnam, Yeager continued flying as a consultant test pilot at Edwards. ``People always love to come out to Edwards because they can see some very exotic airplanes,'' he said. ``It's good to see people bring their kids, and there is nowhere in the world you can hear a sonic boom like they will hear here.'' At Edwards last week, Yeager visited the new Test Operations facilities, watched security forces fire M-60 machine guns, automatic rifles and grenade launchers
Yeager delivered Angel Awards to volunteers at the Childcare Development Center and awarded Angel pins to several 95th Air Base Wing command post controllers. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Senior Airman senior airman n. 1. Abbr. SrA A noncommissioned rank in the U.S. Air Force that is above airman first class and below staff sergeant. 2. One who holds this rank. Patrick Saunders salutes retired Brig Brig, town, Switzerland Brig (brēk), Fr. Brigue, town, Valais canton, S Switzerland, on the Rhône River, at the north entrance of the Simplon Tunnel. . Gen. Chuck Yeager, set to fly an F-15 at this year's air show. U.S. Air Force |
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