Rating: Summary: Ball's Out Review: "Balls Out" that is the way Chuk Yeager described his flying, and also the way he lived his life. By his own admission he was one of the luckiest People on the face of the Earth; he had survived many difficult and risky assignments and had been given great opportunities whilst flying for the USAF.At the end of his career Chuck had flown over 180 different aircraft, (most of which were experimental) and had logged over 10,000hrs flying. This is the story of his life and is quiet simply a fascinating story about an exceptional pilot who lived in extraordinary times.
Rating: Summary: The mold is broken Review: 10? Not enough, but it's all I am permitted. WWII was a time like no other; and Chuck Yeager is a man like no other. From the hills of West Virginia stepped an unpretentious American hero, a man from a time where nothing mattered more than running the race - a time where dying, at worst, was no more than the entry fee. The Yeagers of WWII were OUR Nathan Hales, but quietly, without oratory. A beer in the evening and then off to the job of saving civilization. No complaints, no regrets, no second thoughts, no me-generation. Absorb this book into your soul to acquire a sense of a time that never was before and never will be again - from a man who never was before and never will be again.
Rating: Summary: Amazing Review: Amazing. Simply amazing. I read the two page introduction and didn't put the book down until it was finished. You simply can not stop reading this book once it engrosses you. If you are a military historian of flight enthusiast you must read this book. I will never read a book as good as this one again.
Rating: Summary: Title is the weak point Review: An old Norwegian proverb says heroism consists in hanging on one minute longer. I get the feeling from Yeager's story that he has done just exactly that more than once. Yeager was shot down over occupied France during WWII. He was hidden by the French Resistance who led him over the Pyrenees and sent him off to Spain, across the mountains on foot. He returned to his fighter squadron in England and stayed to fight again in French and German skies. War over, he returned home, decorated and commended, to become a test pilot for the newly formed Air Force. Yeager is the pilot who broke the sound barrier, paving the way for supersonic flight and the space program. This is a book full of wild tales and heroic deeds. Hilarity and tragedy, like in life, ride side by side. "He loved practical jokes," the authors write. "He went over to a little airport in Dayton and signed up for flying lessons. He took the course, taught by a really sharp-looking blonde, and when the time came for him to solo, a bunch of us went to watch. He took off, climbed above the field, then dove straight down, did a roll and barely missed the hangars, looped and spun, and turned everything loose. His instructor hid her face in her hands and almost passed out, but when she saw us standing in our uniforms and laughing like hell, she knew she'd been had." Yeager comes across (because he says so) as an everyday kind of guy who loves to fly, was in the right place at the right time, and has had a lot of good luck. One can't help but notice that he worked hard, too, and was blessed with the gift of persistance. Co-author Leo Janus was Houston bureau chief for the New York Times during the Apollo missions and received the American Institute of Physics-US Steel Foundation science writing award in 1981. The book is amusing and informative. It reads like a roundtable riot with a bunch of flamboyant pilots. Only the title is its weak point -- it is unoriginal, predictable and boring. Chuck Yeager is not. Sunnye Tiedemann (aka Ruth F. Tiedemann)
Rating: Summary: An excellent look at the life of a hero Review: Before I read this book, I had no idea how interesting his life was besides the sound barrier. It was very interesting reading about his combat in World War II and Vietnam, and all the fun times at different Air Force bases. A must-read!
Rating: Summary: A Must Read about a true American Hero! Review: Chuck Yeager personifies the title "American Hero." He lived life on his terms and flew every airplane that crossed his path. A double ace in WWII fighting the Germans. The 1st person to crack the sound barrier. Chuck Yeager lived life to its fullest and truly had "The Right Stuff!"
Rating: Summary: The barrier is broken Review: Chuck Yeager's biography is also a surrogate USAF history. From the well timed "Sound Barrier" attempts, to his off-duty exploits, this true American hero accurately describes the hazardous nature of military aviation, and the talented, ornery characters imbued with the "Right Stuff" to develop the military's cutting-edge fighters. General Yeager holds no punches in his recollections of mistreatment by the envious, unctuous newcomers bent on having his career derailed, due to his lack of educational credentials. America would do well to remember the many sterling accomplishments of General Yeager, and that someone with the physical acumen, coordination, superb vision, and a general "can-do" attitude does not need a PhD in Aeronautical Engineering to fly well.
Rating: Summary: A Lifelong Adventure Review: Chuck Yeager's life is so interesting that this book writes itself. A monkey at a typewriter couldn't make a dull book about this man.
Rating: Summary: THE REAL DEAL Review: CHUK YEAGER IS A GENUINE AMERICAN HERO. NO QUESTION. STEVEN TRAVERS AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN" STWRITES@AOL.COM
Rating: Summary: THE REAL DEAL Review: CHUK YEAGER IS A GENUINE AMERICAN HERO. NO QUESTION. STEVEN TRAVERS AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN" STWRITES@AOL.COM
|