YEAGER STATUE UNVEILED BASE HONORS FIRST PILOT TO BREAK SOUND BARRIER.

Byline: JIM SKEEN Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE -- Calling him the most righteous of those with the right stuff, Edwards Air Force Base officials unveiled a statue Wednesday of the base's most famous test pilot: Chuck Yeager.

Made of bronze and weighing 500 pounds, the statue depicts Yeager as he appeared some 30 years ago -- just before he retired from active duty as a brigadier general -- in a flight suit and holding a helmet.

``I've received a lot of honors,'' Yeager, 83, said. ``The ones coming from the flight test center are the ones that really get to me.''

In a ceremony kicked off with a sonic boom, Yeager attended an unveiling of the statue at the corner of Yeager and Rosamond boulevards on the base.

Van Howd, who had served as a White House artist during the Reagan administration, said he spent about six months crafting the statue. Van Howd worked primarily from photographs supplied by Edwards and from a uniform Yeager provided him.

``I hope this is a reminder of the 42 years he's spent in this area and that he's the No. 1 aviator in the world,'' Van Howd said of the work.

The statue was donated to Edwards by Bruce Fite, a Northern California real estate developer and former military pilot.

Base historian Jim Young referred to Yeager as the ``most righteous of those with the right stuff'' and a role model and mentor to many distinguished test pilots, such as former X-15 pilot and astronaut Joe Engle, who was in attendance at the ceremony.

``In an age of media-made heroes, he is the real deal,'' Young said of Yeager.

Maj. Gen. Curtis Bedke, commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center, called Yeager a legend and a man born to fly.

``He's a plain-speaking West Virginian who has accomplished amazing things,'' Bedke said.

Yeager said he was honored by the ceremony, but jokingly said he was also a bit miffed -- he was listening to airplanes that he wasn't getting a chance to fly anymore.

``I'm 83 and I could fly in an F-16 with no problem, but General Bedke doesn't think so,'' Yeager said.

A World War II and Vietnam veteran, Yeager has always considered his combat service his greatest achievement, but for most people he is most noted for being the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound. Yeager broke the sound barrier in a flight on the X-1 rocketplane on Oct. 14, 1947 at what is now Edwards.

During the ceremony, Yeager paid tribute to his friend Bob Hoover, who was in attendance Wednesday. Yeager said when he emerged from the ``college of life and death'' that was World War II, he was a bit ragged as a pilot.

Yeager said he refined his piloting skills flying with Hoover at air shows while waiting to attend test pilot school.

``He was the one who taught me what precision flying was all about,'' Yeager said.

Yeager told Hoover that one day they will be reading their last pre-flight checklists. ``It'll be hard to read. Not because we are old, but because it'll be inside a casket,'' Yeager said. ``The last paragraph will read, `You guys had a ball.'''

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color in AV edition only) Retired Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager at the ceremony unveiling his statue at Edwards Air Force Base on Wednesday.

(2 -- 3 -- color -- ran in AV edition only) Above, unveiling the Chuck Yeager statue are, from left, Bruce Fite, who donated the statue, Air Force Flight Test Center commander Maj. Gen. Curtis Bedke, statue sculptor Douglas Van Howd and retired Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer