"rdurden" == rdurden writes:

rdurden Dave, It's quite interesting to spend time with test
rdurden pilots who had worked with Yeager. The real test pilots
rdurden from the days of the early jets and rocket planes are
rdurden extremely quiet, not cocky at all; as if they know just
rdurden how very lucky they were just to survive.

rdurden Funny how the truly great test pilots don't get well
rdurden known, for example, Ivan Kinchloe, ... Al White, who
rdurden hand flew the XB-70 at Mach 3 at over 70,000 feet ...

rdurden Slick Goodlin, who did all the initial testing on the
rdurden X-1, before it was in condition to be handed over to the
rdurden military, got shafted by an author, and despite all he
rdurden did with humanitarian airlifts, is recalled by the public
rdurden as a greedy person. It doesn't matter what kind of
rdurden person one really is, I guess, it only matters how one is
rdurden portrayed by the popular media.

Human beings classify people on a few perceived characteristics, and
in general are unable to reevaluate based on later evidence,
preferring instead to add the newer evidence as as sub-grouping of
their main initial evaluation. So it is not really possible for people
generally to accept that a person can be of "characteristic" a,b,c,d
at different times, but not be classified as any one of them.
--
G Hassenpflug * IJN & JMSDF equipment/history fan