AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2019 - 60

EIGHT WHO MADE IT GREAT

THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL PERSONALITIES IN GA
B Y J U L I E S U M M E R S WA L K E R

CHUCK YEAGER. Flying

ace Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager
became the first pilot to
exceed the speed of sound in
level flight in 1947 in a supersonic Bell X-1 he named
Glamorous Glennis after his
wife. He flew at an altitude of
45,000 feet; Bob Hoover was
his chase pilot in a Lockheed
Shooting Star. Like Hoover,
Yeager also was shot down
during World War II; he won
the Bronze Star for helping another downed airman
escape occupied France.
Yeager served as chase pilot
for Jacqueline Cochran when
she became the first woman
to break the sound barrier
in 1953. His 33-year career in
the U.S. Air Force saw him
achieve the rank of brigadier general. A true member
of the GA community, Yeager
set records in Piper aircraft.
He was inducted into the
National Aviation Hall of Fame
in 1973.

BOB HOOVER. Called

the "pilot's pilot" for his
skill, dedication, and heroism in flight, Robert A.
"Bob" Hoover served in
both World War II and
the Korean War. Hoover
was shot down behind
enemy lines in Germany
in 1944 and executed a
daring escape. In the Korean conflict he taught dive-bombing in the F-86 Sabre. A test
pilot, aerobatic performer, and consummate flight instructor, Hoover was beloved in the
GA community; AOPA bestows the Hoover Trophy in his honor each year on an aviator
who, like Hoover, advances aviation and the joy of flying (see "AOPA Action," p. 12).

JOHN GLENN. John Glenn made

NASA

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history when he orbited the Earth in
the spacecraft Friendship 7 in 1962. His
4-hour, 56-minute flight made him the
first American in orbit and a national
hero. With ticker tape parades, awards,
and accolades from President John
F. Kennedy, Glenn became a household name. His honesty, humble nature,
and patriotism garnered him a place
on the national stage; he served as a
U.S. senator for more than 20 years,
ran for president in 1984, and returned
to space as the oldest person to do
so, at the age of 77. An active general
aviation pilot, Glenn flew into his 80s.
Godspeed, John Glenn.

BURT RUTAN. Responsible for one of histo-

ry's "where were you" moments in 2004 when
his company's SpaceShipOne design made the
first manned private spaceflight. Newsweek
magazine described Rutan as "the man responsible for more innovations in modern aviation than
any living engineer." He has designed aircraft
for space (SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo),
for performance and endurance (Voyager,
Proteus, and GlobalFlyer), and for general aviation (VariEze and Long-EZ). Five of his aircraft
are on display at the Smithsonian's National Air
and Space Museum and Steven F. Udvar-Hazy
Center. He is the recipient of the Collier Trophy,
is a Living Legend of Aviation, and was awarded
the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 2015.
Retired from Scaled Composites in 2011, Rutan
recently created the SkiGull, an amphibious aircraft. (See "Visions for the Future," p. 78.)

AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2019

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