Chuck Yeager died this week. This is his Wikipedia page. Yeager was an American WWII fighter ace and later a postwar test pilot. He was the first man to break the sound barrier. Then he was the first man to go Mach 2.

As a teenager, Yeager was a deep inspiration for me and his story was one of the leading reasons that I learned to fly. He was a pilot's pilot, exuding all the qualities one would expect of a fighter ace. He was aggressive, fearless, and bold. He climbed into a test airplane with two broken ribs and proceeded to smash the sound barrier. Few could do the same.

Later in life he became distressingly vitriolic and rather embarrassingly racist. Those comments tarnish his reputation but do not diminish his stature as one of America's greatest pilots. I think we can separate a man's heroic accomplishments from his later unacceptable opinions.

So, tonight I'm pouring out one for Chuck Yeager, one of America's greatest pilots, the man who inspired me to fly. He need not ascend on the wings of angels, for he has his own wings.