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nDuringnWorld War II, he shot down five enemy aircraft in a single day!
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nHenwas shot down himself, once, over occupied France, but he was able tonavoid being captured by the Germans. He moved through the woods untilnhe found a group from the French resistance. With their help, he wasnable to return to Britain and pilot duty.
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nAfternthe war, he went from great fighter pilot to great test pilot. Somenwould say that he is the most famous test pilot of all time. Onenreason is that he was the first to break the sound barrier in 1947. That means he was the first human ever to travel faster than the speed of sound.
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| When Yeager passed the sound barrier, he was flying about 700 miles per hour. For the first time people heard a “sonic boom.” |
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nDo you know what test pilots do? They test out new plane designs. Theyntry to fly higher or faster than anyone has ever flown before—Yeagernwas called the Fastest Man Alive. It is all very dangerous.
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Knownwhat else? Despite all the dangers that he faced as a fighter andntest pilot, Chuck Yeager is still alive and is celebrating his 90thnbirthday today!
Knownwhat else? Despite all the dangers that he faced as a fighter andntest pilot, Chuck Yeager is still alive and is celebrating his 90thnbirthday today!n
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nBynthe way…
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nChucknYeager once answered the question of who the best pilot is by saying,n“There is no best pilot. If the guy is alive, he’s pretty…good!”
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nCelebratenYeager by watching The Right Stuff.nWarning:nthe movie is long and was once rated R. Read about it on Common Sense Media,nwhere it is rated as top-quality and good for ‘tweens and teens onnup.
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nAlsonon this date: n
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nNaturalist Joseph Banks’s birthday
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nAnniversarynof the Treaty of Lisbon
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nArtistnGrant Wood’s birthday
