Why airplanes fly

"Dudley Henriques" wrote

Yeager has had years to set the record straight and give Welsh the credit
that was denied him, but he hasn't done that. This not only denies Welsh
his credit due, but will eventually, as history sorts it all out, blot the
life of Yeager as well.
Both ways, it diminishes the accomplishments of two great aviation
pioneers.
There's a bit more to the story, but this is the skinny from my
perspective anyway.
I never liked how he treated other people, in general.

One case comes to mind, when he was asked to comment about the first around
the world un re-fueled flight, in voyager.

He dismissed it, very off handedly, saying, " that was no big deal. They
were not doing anything new, it was just an airplane that carried a lot of
fuel," or something to that effect. I don't remember the exact quote, but
it was along those lines.

I vowed that day, that I would never walk to the other side of a path to
meet him, hear him speak, or get an autograph.
--
Jim in NC

Morgans wrote:
"Dudley Henriques" wrote

Yeager has had years to set the record straight and give Welsh the credit
that was denied him, but he hasn't done that. This not only denies Welsh
his credit due, but will eventually, as history sorts it all out, blot the
life of Yeager as well.
Both ways, it diminishes the accomplishments of two great aviation
pioneers.
There's a bit more to the story, but this is the skinny from my
perspective anyway.
I never liked how he treated other people, in general.

One case comes to mind, when he was asked to comment about the first around
the world un re-fueled flight, in voyager.

He dismissed it, very off handedly, saying, " that was no big deal. They
were not doing anything new, it was just an airplane that carried a lot of
fuel," or something to that effect. I don't remember the exact quote, but
it was along those lines.

I vowed that day, that I would never walk to the other side of a path to
meet him, hear him speak, or get an autograph.

I learned a long time ago that "hero's" in many cases are not what
people envision them to be through their public persona. The image is
what gets embedded in people's minds; seldom the real person. These
hero's can be better or worse than this public image.
I've known many hero's in my life. Most have been quiet and unassuming
to a large degree.
I knew one MOH winner quite well. We were shooting baskets in his
driveway once and the ball went into his garage through the open door. I
went in to get it. I accidentally knocked over a cigar box that was
stashed under a work table and it opened its contents on the floor. His
MOH was in there. I picked it up and handed it to him. He just looked at
it for a second and put it carefully back into the box.
I guess he saw the quizzical look on my face and he remarked as we went
outside to resume our one on one;
"I'm storing that for the guys it belongs too. They're still out there"


--
Dudley Henriques