9 A Big Surprise
Col. Peterson called me into his office and told
me that Col. Yeager was going to be flying the
AST in short order and that Air Force Chief of
Staff, General LeMay had designated him to
establish the official world’s altitude record.
I knew that Pete and Chuck were alienated
because he refused to let Chuck leave his job as
Deputy of Flight Test to go wherever and
whenever he pleased, which was Chuck’s lifestyle
over the years. Pete had told him to find
another job or get to work. Chuck chose to be
the Test Pilot School Commander, with little or
no tie-downs, since it was well organized and
the incumbents already ran it.
Interesting things pop out in Chuck’s
assignment. The school had always included an
analytical side, especially the stability and
Control half of the test pilot school, and it
was that half that Chuck had failed when he
attended TPS. The advent of the ARPS addition,
leading the AST kicked the technology and
engineering studies up a few notches higher to
become a high tech engineering atmosphere, not
Chuck’s realm by his own admissions, in his
autobiography.
 |
Bud Anderson |
Chuck took over shortly before I graduated from
ARPS. It was at that point that he had tried
unsuccessfully to move the AST test program
under the school, and lost that battle,
exacerbating the breach between those two
colonels, Pete the senior in rank and Chuck
holding far more influence. Over the years,
including the last time I spent some hours with
Chuck and his friend and famous WWII Ace, Bud
Anderson, 1997 in
Las Vegas
at the Air Force’s 50th Anniversary,
Chuck grossly disparaged Pete’s character, which
was not a first in my presence. He knows that
Pete, who is no longer with us, is my idea of an
outstanding officer and gentleman.
Pete was truly upset with the decision,
attributed to Gen. Curtis LeMay, Chief of
Staff. The only possible explanation was Chuck
and his supporters arranged that, because
Chief’s of Staff were certainly too busy to
notice such a minor issue without a powerful
sponsor. Facts back up that opinion.
A lot had happened in a period of months before
the start of Air Force tests and Chuck Yeager
flying the AST. One of those was preparing a
famous aviatrix and one of Chuck’s best friends,
Jackie Cochran, to fly for a Women’s closed
course world speed record in the F-104. Jackie,
was no spring chicken but had a long-standing
competition with another Jacqueline, the
daughter of the French President, to set
flying records. Jackie had the American Air
Force to support her and Jacqueline the French
Air Force and the French woman was one up at
that time, so Lockheed had prepared and paid for
Jackie’s attempts. Jack Woodman described to me
her check out in the two-place airplane, after
which she flew solo with Chuck or Jack on her
wing to talk her in on landings. She had great
confidence in Chuck and she was middle age by
that time. The most demanding part of that
record, which is run on a racetrack path at high
altitude was maintaining it within the narrow
altitude limit. Jack told me at the time that
as hard as they worked, she could not do it. The
problem was solved when Lockheed added automatic
altitude hold to her airplane. She didn’t have
to control anything but ailerons (wing roll)
throughout the record runs and thus she
succeeded.
My point in reciting these facts is
demonstrating the ability of one civilian to
call upon the U.S.A.F. in this manner, because
the government ultimately paid for it, rest
assured. I feel sure it was also germane to
Chuck’s flying for a record, after so many
years. Jackie was famous for many years and had
made friends of many early flying heroes, most
among the military. She married Mr. Floyd Odlum,
who was a billionaire industrialist, owner of
the Atlas Corporation, a holding company with
large controlling stock interests in companies,
including aircraft manufacturing. In particular
he held a big interest in Convair, which had a
large plant in San Diego.
Also among Jackie’s supporters was Chief of
Staff of the United States Air Force General
Curtis E. LeMay. Add Chuck Yeager and that
foursome was very well connected and powerful.
A prime example was the extended trip which
Chuck and Jackie took earlier, in her Lockheed
Lodestar, a twin-engine passenger airplane. They
flew from the
America
to Russia. What was astounding, but true, was
that those two flew throughout the U.S.S.R. at
the height of the cold war with the approval of
both governments who were sworn enemies and
could agree on nothing, and they had few
constraints, flying without commissars or
passengers to oversee their flights. This
powerful foursome influenced every aspect of the
AST program from that moment on.
Pete urged me to avoid getting involved with
Chuck’s check-out, advice which I respectfully
begged to decline. I had the knowledge base of
the AST, but the handbook wasn’t yet written. I
told Pete that I felt obligated, and he
understood.
It is important to anyone to receive recognition
in life’s work and the official world record
would have been a once in a lifetime affirmation
for me. This irreversible decision has bothered
me more in recent years than it did at the time
it happened. Quite frankly, until long after my
final retirement from a second career, almost 30
years later, I seldom looked back on those
events of the past, in great measure because I
greatly missed them and chose not to dwell on my
flying career, to enhance my new dedication to
managing some vitally important NASA and
military programs for 23 years, as a civilian.
These last 12 years in retirement have added to
my angst on the issue. A little of that
may be attributable to jovial goading by some
dear Air Force friends, but more than anything
it is probably the lack of a challenge of
sufficient risks in true retirement.
It took a long time to realize that it was not
the brief surge of adrenaline that came with
moments of high risk that stimulated the urge to
face them, but the lasting satisfaction
of overcoming them.
That realization led me to select assignments
in my civilian career that provided a higher
level of opportunity to fail
to achieve satisfaction of accomplishment
and fill the void of not flying. |