Sometimes, when people ask my age, I like to say Iâm older than the speed of sound.
I know that seems strange coming from someone who talks a lot, but I say that because I was born six months before Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in level flight.
Charles E. Yeager was a hero of mine when I was growing up. I was crazy about airplanes and the space program. I watched Americaâs unsuccessful rocket launches and cheered when the Army finally put a satellite in orbit.
Test pilots captured my attention long before we were introduced to the Mercury Seven. It seemed like Yeager and other hotshots like Scott Crossfield, Joe Walker, etc. were always doing something that was more astounding than anything I could dream up.