RIP Chuck Yeager

Two nights before his attempt on the sound barrier #ChuckYeager fell from a horse breaking two ribs. He kept quiet, not wanting to lose his mission although one key move posed a problem. The X1 rocketplane was carried under a B29 aircraft to 7000ft where he had to climb down a ladder, squeeze into its tiny cockpit, hook up the systems and prepare for launch. His engineer Jack Ridley also had to climb down with the hatch on a chain for Yeager to grab and seal- probably impossible with an immobilised right arm. In the hangar Yeager confided in Ridley who asked a janitor to cut a piece of broom handle for Chuck to use as a wrench with his left hand.

Yeager went aloft. At 26,000 feet he fired his four rockets, the surge so powerful he was forced back into his seat, hardly able to reach his controls. At Mach .87 the shaking started, but as he'd predicted at .96, the X1 stabilised again. On the ground a boom- never heard before -reverberated across the desert. The X1 had gone through the sonic wall. For Yeager, the sky turned purple as he looked out into #space.

#anexplorersmindset expands boundaries-not always as literally-but in striving to exceed our limits and expectations and become greater. #inspiration #leadership #resilience #purpose