Slick Goodlin dead at 82

Vince,

Actually Slick wanted normal pay for a test pilot for the work he was
doing. It may well have been that the Air Force used the pay excuse to
make sure one of its pilots, rather than the factory test pilot, a
civilian, got the official record. Tom Wolfe in the book _The Right
Stuff_ treated Goodlin very shabbily and elevated a pretty much
otherwise regular test pilot who happened to have a monumental ego to
hero status. By denigrating Goodlin, who was extremely good and had
done some pretty incredible things (and went on to do some very amazing
things) Wolfe built up Yeager. There were quite a few pilots, civilian
and military, who were in line and willing to fly the X-1 because it
was getting a massive amount of publicity during the developmental
flights by the Bell factory pilot, Goodlin. (Bell had a rep for having
some of the best test pilots in the business-Boeing hired Tex Johnston
from Bell to be its chief of flight test.) During the late '40s
through the '60s the Air Force made sure its active duty pilots were
flying when records were "officially" set. However, what they didn't
talk about was that for all of the speed runs, a factory test pilot had
made the run a few days earlier, without the FAI observers present, to
confirm that the airplane would perform as advertised. The Air Force
did not want any surprises when the official observers were present.
Al White, who was chief of flight test for North American in the X-15
and XB-70 days, wrote a book about his experiences, including making
speed runs in the F-100 and F-107 a few days before the Air Force's
test pilot would repeat the run for the official record. He thought it
was interesting that the factory pilots could often get a few more
knots out of the airplane than the Air Force pilot on the record
setting day.

Interstingly, Wolfe and others failed to mention that the chief test
pilot for North American at the time, George Welch (who was one of the
few pilots who shot down Japanese airplanes over Pearl Harbor on Dec 7,
- later died when an upper right hand corner of the Vn diagram - max
speed, high G - test of an F-100 went horribly wrong), had exceeded the
speed of sound several times in the prototype F-86 in the two weeks
prior to Yeager's flight. But, the Air Force wanted the credit for the
first and made sure one of its pilots instead of a civilian pilot got
the publicity. North American was not allowed to instrument the
airplane for official speed until after Yeager did his thing. Yeager
was the first to go supersonic in level flight, and rightfully gets
credit for that, however, the F-86 did so in a dive, and actually went
through the transonic range much more smoothly than the straight wing
X-1.

It's sad that because of one book that glorified one guy whose
reputation in the test pilot community is lousy for letting his ego put
test programs at risk, also managed to effectively smear the reputation
of someone who was exceedingly good in his own right and went on to do
some humanitarian work that was most impressive.

All the best,
Rick

wrote in message
oups.com...
Vince,

Actually Slick wanted normal pay for a test pilot for the work he was
doing. It may well have been that the Air Force used the pay excuse to
make sure one of its pilots, rather than the factory test pilot, a
civilian, got the official record. Tom Wolfe in the book _The Right
Stuff_ treated Goodlin very shabbily and elevated a pretty much
otherwise regular test pilot who happened to have a monumental ego to
hero status. By denigrating Goodlin, who was extremely good and had
done some pretty incredible things (and went on to do some very amazing
things) Wolfe built up Yeager. There were quite a few pilots, civilian
and military, who were in line and willing to fly the X-1 because it
was getting a massive amount of publicity during the developmental
flights by the Bell factory pilot, Goodlin. (Bell had a rep for having
some of the best test pilots in the business-Boeing hired Tex Johnston
from Bell to be its chief of flight test.) During the late '40s
through the '60s the Air Force made sure its active duty pilots were
flying when records were "officially" set. However, what they didn't
talk about was that for all of the speed runs, a factory test pilot had
made the run a few days earlier, without the FAI observers present, to
confirm that the airplane would perform as advertised. The Air Force
did not want any surprises when the official observers were present.
Al White, who was chief of flight test for North American in the X-15
and XB-70 days, wrote a book about his experiences, including making
speed runs in the F-100 and F-107 a few days before the Air Force's
test pilot would repeat the run for the official record. He thought it
was interesting that the factory pilots could often get a few more
knots out of the airplane than the Air Force pilot on the record
setting day.

Interstingly, Wolfe and others failed to mention that the chief test
pilot for North American at the time, George Welch (who was one of the
few pilots who shot down Japanese airplanes over Pearl Harbor on Dec 7,
- later died when an upper right hand corner of the Vn diagram - max
speed, high G - test of an F-100 went horribly wrong), had exceeded the
speed of sound several times in the prototype F-86 in the two weeks
prior to Yeager's flight. But, the Air Force wanted the credit for the
first and made sure one of its pilots instead of a civilian pilot got
the publicity. North American was not allowed to instrument the
airplane for official speed until after Yeager did his thing. Yeager
was the first to go supersonic in level flight, and rightfully gets
credit for that, however, the F-86 did so in a dive, and actually went
through the transonic range much more smoothly than the straight wing
X-1.

It's sad that because of one book that glorified one guy whose
reputation in the test pilot community is lousy for letting his ego put
test programs at risk, also managed to effectively smear the reputation
of someone who was exceedingly good in his own right and went on to do
some humanitarian work that was most impressive.

All the best,
Rick

Has anybody ever met anyone that actually likes Yeager. Latest word is his
own kids are now on the outs after his recent female episode.

Has anybody ever met anyone that actually likes Yeager. Latest word is
his
own kids are now on the outs after his recent female episode.

I think Jim Weir likes him as a hangar neighbor?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:z5L7f.472406$x96.142332@attbi_s72...
Has anybody ever met anyone that actually likes Yeager. Latest word is
his
own kids are now on the outs after his recent female episode.


The "outs" are due to Yeager modifying his will and other financial matters
to include the "female episode" which happens to be his wife. Damned good
pilot, by the way. The wife, that is.


I think Jim Weir likes him as a hangar neighbor?

I said he is my hangar neighbor, period. Son of a bitch used to steal
peaches from my orchard when he cut across my place walking up to the
airport from his house.


Jim

"RST Engineering" wrote in message
...

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:z5L7f.472406$x96.142332@attbi_s72...
Has anybody ever met anyone that actually likes Yeager. Latest word is
his
own kids are now on the outs after his recent female episode.


The "outs" are due to Yeager modifying his will and other financial
matters
to include the "female episode" which happens to be his wife.

Which happens to be half his age and younger than his kids as I understand.
Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Damned good pilot, by the way. The wife, that is.


I think Jim Weir likes him as a hangar neighbor?

I said he is my hangar neighbor, period. Son of a bitch used to steal
peaches from my orchard when he cut across my place walking up to the
airport from his house.


Jim

On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 03:57:10 GMT, "Dave Stadt"
wrote:


Has anybody ever met anyone that actually likes Yeager. Latest word is his
own kids are now on the outs after his recent female episode.



I like Yeager, but I was sure disappointed this year at Oshkosh.

My 8 year old daughter has gone to bed with stories of aviation's
greats for several years. She's enthralled with it all, and will
describe how much Mike Melville's wife loves him (She's seen the Black
Sky DVDs a half dozen times) or gladly tell you how Yeager broke the
sound barrier with a broken rib, how he used a broom handle, etc.

When she found out that Rutan would be at Oshkosh this year, along
with SpaceShipOne, she made me promise we would go. Go we did, and I
sat down with her and my two older boys to plan our stay there. Of
course we had to see Rutan and Yeager, which is how I found myself
sitting in on the last half of Bob Hoover's presentation in the
Heritage Museum.

Hoover's such a gentleman. Then Yeager came on, and the first thing
we got was a 20 minute video on Yeager. It seemed strange. He just
sat on stage for the whole thing, which would have been interesting to
watch at home, but not sitting there.

Then during his talk he started getting very political, and began
saying things like the British did the right thing by blowing that
guy's head off in the subway station and we should handle them that
way. This was AFTER it had been determined the poor guy had nothing
to do with terrorism. It was an embarassing moment more than
anything. I just felt kinda sad and embarassed, even though I do
actually agree with the sentiment.

My daughter took pictures of him, but complained that he showed the
video for such a long time. I could tell she wasn't quite as
impressed as she expected to be.

Bottom line, I was reminded of Hollywood celebrities who get out of
touch with the real world, begin to use the attention they have to
create a political platform, and forget what the fans are really there
to see.

Rutan on the other hand...quirky but a hell of a guy.

Bill Strahan
------------
Find a new reason to fly
www.adventurepilot.com

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Bill wrote:

On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 03:57:10 GMT, "Dave Stadt"
wrote:


Has anybody ever met anyone that actually likes Yeager. Latest word is his
own kids are now on the outs after his recent female episode.




I like Yeager, but I was sure disappointed this year at Oshkosh.

My 8 year old daughter has gone to bed with stories of aviation's
greats for several years. She's enthralled with it all, and will
describe how much Mike Melville's wife loves him (She's seen the Black
Sky DVDs a half dozen times) or gladly tell you how Yeager broke the
sound barrier with a broken rib, how he used a broom handle, etc.

When she found out that Rutan would be at Oshkosh this year, along
with SpaceShipOne, she made me promise we would go. Go we did, and I
sat down with her and my two older boys to plan our stay there. Of
course we had to see Rutan and Yeager, which is how I found myself
sitting in on the last half of Bob Hoover's presentation in the
Heritage Museum.

Hoover's such a gentleman. Then Yeager came on, and the first thing
we got was a 20 minute video on Yeager. It seemed strange. He just
sat on stage for the whole thing, which would have been interesting to
watch at home, but not sitting there.

Yes, Hoover is a class act all the way. Yeager is ego all the way.
Great pilots both, but if I could win a day with either one, the choice
would be a no-brainer.


Matt

In article ,
Matt Whiting wrote:

Bill wrote:

On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 03:57:10 GMT, "Dave Stadt"
wrote:


Has anybody ever met anyone that actually likes Yeager. Latest word is his
own kids are now on the outs after his recent female episode.




I like Yeager, but I was sure disappointed this year at Oshkosh.

My 8 year old daughter has gone to bed with stories of aviation's
greats for several years. She's enthralled with it all, and will
describe how much Mike Melville's wife loves him (She's seen the Black
Sky DVDs a half dozen times) or gladly tell you how Yeager broke the
sound barrier with a broken rib, how he used a broom handle, etc.

When she found out that Rutan would be at Oshkosh this year, along
with SpaceShipOne, she made me promise we would go. Go we did, and I
sat down with her and my two older boys to plan our stay there. Of
course we had to see Rutan and Yeager, which is how I found myself
sitting in on the last half of Bob Hoover's presentation in the
Heritage Museum.

Hoover's such a gentleman. Then Yeager came on, and the first thing
we got was a 20 minute video on Yeager. It seemed strange. He just
sat on stage for the whole thing, which would have been interesting to
watch at home, but not sitting there.

Yes, Hoover is a class act all the way. Yeager is ego all the way.
Great pilots both, but if I could win a day with either one, the choice
would be a no-brainer.

I have a friend who gave instrument proficiency checks to both Yeager
and Hoover (and flew F-100s with Gabreski). You should hear some of the
tales!

Orval Fairbairn wrote:

In article ,
Matt Whiting wrote:


Bill wrote:


On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 03:57:10 GMT, "Dave Stadt"
wrote:



Has anybody ever met anyone that actually likes Yeager. Latest word is his
own kids are now on the outs after his recent female episode.




I like Yeager, but I was sure disappointed this year at Oshkosh.

My 8 year old daughter has gone to bed with stories of aviation's
greats for several years. She's enthralled with it all, and will
describe how much Mike Melville's wife loves him (She's seen the Black
Sky DVDs a half dozen times) or gladly tell you how Yeager broke the
sound barrier with a broken rib, how he used a broom handle, etc.

When she found out that Rutan would be at Oshkosh this year, along
with SpaceShipOne, she made me promise we would go. Go we did, and I
sat down with her and my two older boys to plan our stay there. Of
course we had to see Rutan and Yeager, which is how I found myself
sitting in on the last half of Bob Hoover's presentation in the
Heritage Museum.

Hoover's such a gentleman. Then Yeager came on, and the first thing
we got was a 20 minute video on Yeager. It seemed strange. He just
sat on stage for the whole thing, which would have been interesting to
watch at home, but not sitting there.

Yes, Hoover is a class act all the way. Yeager is ego all the way.
Great pilots both, but if I could win a day with either one, the choice
would be a no-brainer.


I have a friend who gave instrument proficiency checks to both Yeager
and Hoover (and flew F-100s with Gabreski). You should hear some of the
tales!

I'd love to. Care to share any?

Matt

In article ,
Matt Whiting wrote:

Orval Fairbairn wrote:

In article ,
Matt Whiting wrote:


Bill wrote:


On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 03:57:10 GMT, "Dave Stadt"
wrote:



Has anybody ever met anyone that actually likes Yeager. Latest word is
his
own kids are now on the outs after his recent female episode.




I like Yeager, but I was sure disappointed this year at Oshkosh.

My 8 year old daughter has gone to bed with stories of aviation's
greats for several years. She's enthralled with it all, and will
describe how much Mike Melville's wife loves him (She's seen the Black
Sky DVDs a half dozen times) or gladly tell you how Yeager broke the
sound barrier with a broken rib, how he used a broom handle, etc.

When she found out that Rutan would be at Oshkosh this year, along
with SpaceShipOne, she made me promise we would go. Go we did, and I
sat down with her and my two older boys to plan our stay there. Of
course we had to see Rutan and Yeager, which is how I found myself
sitting in on the last half of Bob Hoover's presentation in the
Heritage Museum.

Hoover's such a gentleman. Then Yeager came on, and the first thing
we got was a 20 minute video on Yeager. It seemed strange. He just
sat on stage for the whole thing, which would have been interesting to
watch at home, but not sitting there.

Yes, Hoover is a class act all the way. Yeager is ego all the way.
Great pilots both, but if I could win a day with either one, the choice
would be a no-brainer.


I have a friend who gave instrument proficiency checks to both Yeager
and Hoover (and flew F-100s with Gabreski). You should hear some of the
tales!

I'd love to. Care to share any?

Matt

He didn't like Gabreski and considered both Hoover and Yeager to be
marginal on the gages.

Another friend's father was a close friend of Yeager and has some
uncomplimentary stories about Chuck, too.