CHARLESTON, W.Va. –– February 13th would have been the 100th birthday of aviation legend and West Virginia native Chuck Yeager.
There are celebrations of the date around the world, including at the airport in Charleston. Marshall University’s Bill Noe Flight School will participate in an event honoring General Yeager’s memory with three Cirrus SR-20 aircraft doing a fly over of West Virginia International Yeager Airport at 10:30 a.m. weather permitting.
People are being encouraged to do something aviation related in honor of Yeager and the occasion of his birthday. Those involved are asked to post pictures to social media with the hashtag #CelebratingChuckYeager or #GreatChuckYeagerFlyIn.
The event will also be celebrated worldwide with a number of known individuals in the aviation field involved. According to a release from ChuckYeager.com The U.S. Air Force will be participating along with pilots from the United States, Australia, Southeast Asia, Holland, Italy, England, France, Germany, Peru, and other nations.
Victoria Yeager, the General’s widow and herself a pilot, will be in Charleston Monday, participating in the West Virginia event and flying into the airport which bears his name. It was her suggestion that her late husband’s memory be honored on the occasion with the Great Chuck Yeager Fly-In. The FAA, U.S. Air Force and other aviation enthusiasts got wind of the idea, started sharing emails throughout their organizations, and the idea grew into a global celebration.
Chuck Yeager was a native of Lincoln County and an ace fighter pilot in World War II. He would eventually become an Air Force test pilot and in 1947 was the first man to break the sound barrier. His work laid the groundwork for the first men in space.
Yeager died in December 2020 at the age of 97.