Chuck Yeager's 100,000 Foot Zoom Rocket Plane Crash

On December 10, 1963 then Colonel Chuck Yeager flying a modified Lockheed F-104 Starfighter equipped with a liquid fuel rocket engine narrowly escaped death when his aircraft went out of control at 108,700 feet
An investigation later showed that the cause of the crash was a spin that resulted from excessive angle of attack and lack of aircraft response. The excessive angle of attack was not caused by pilot input but by a gyroscopic condition set up by the J79 engine spooling after shut down for the rocket-powered zoom climb phase.
The crash is depicted in the movie "The Right Stuff." However, the director/writer changed most of the facts/events surrounding the crash. About the only thing they got right was that an F-104 did crash and it was piloted by Yeager.
Source:
www.check-six.c...

[@Knightfang1]

Yeager’s oxygen system caught fire during the ejection and sent a fireball up the hose of his oxygen mask. Starting a fire inside his helmet. Leaving him with his hair singed off and a burn scar on one side of his head. He was literally going Mach 2 with his hair on fire.

[@jsmariani4180]

One would think the fire would have been blown out by the incredible wind.

[@Knightfang1]

@@raynic1173 I was using the line from Top Gun where Charlie tells maverick “he wouldn’t be happy unless he was going Mach 2 with his hair on fire” to be funny. Certainly he wasn’t going Mach 2 by the time he ejected. But he almost certainly exceeded Mach 2 when he was accelerating before the zoom climb

[@scottabelli3406]

Yeager Damn! that was fun!

[@raynic1173]

@@Knightfang1 Ah.

[@dmutant2635]

@@raynic1173 Poetic license, ray Nic...:-)

[@astronut42]

Basically just the real life version of Jebediah Kerman.

[@kevinshen9391]

Jeb would put some more rockets on there and drive the thing into the ground like a missile

[@billytheshoebill5364]

Well hello there

[@antonwestergaard5211]

@@billytheshoebill5364 Hi jeb how ya doing

[@Mediavidero]

Dude you gave me the daily's laugh hahahah

[@billytheshoebill5364]

@@antonwestergaard5211 good you?

[@paulhaynes8045]

To my surprise, Yeager is still alive - aged 97. Hell of a long life for a test pilot! A VERY distinguished life, too - he ended up as Brigadier General, and retired in 1975. So he's been retired longer than (I would guess) most of the viewers of this channel have been alive! Amazing to think what his life has been like - born in 1923, flew in WW2, first man to break the sound barrier, flew all those weird/mad planes of the early jet/rocket times (and survived), and then retired almost half a century ago (only technically retired, though, he did more in his 'retirement' than most of us do in our whole lives). Chuck Yeager, we salute you.

[@donjones4719]

In his teens and early adulthood there were plenty of people around who remembered the news of the Wright brother's first flight. And even later - Orville Wright was still alive when Yeager broke the sound barrier! Chuck spanned that to SR-71, Concorde, Apollo, Space Shuttle, and so many other events.

[@zachreyhelmberger894]

Amen!

[@fredpinczuk7352]

Suggest reading his biography. Worth every page. www.amazon.com/Yeager-Autobiography-Chuck/dp/0553256742 Also little trivial fact. In the movie "the right stuff" 1983, He played a cameo role as the bar owner shaking his head when he overhears the two Nasa Engineer discuss and dismiss Chuck Yeager (played by Sam Shepard) as not being Educated enough (not a university graduate), and therefore not a qualified for the Gemini space program.

[@fromtheflightdeck252]

And...Bud Anderson is also alive too.

[@howardmiller5381]

I was born in 1948 and Yeager's still got 25 years on me.

[@lewismassie]

Chuck is an incredible guy. He spent 30 years breaking records, and last broke the sounds barrier in 2012 at the age of 89

[@Littlewing1977]

@tinwoods wah wah wah. Everybody's a wacist!

[@davidfarmer6515]

Tinwood is a racist so there ya go

[@daddyspartanvr]

@tinwoods Source?

[@jocax188723]

Friendly reminder that Chuck Yeager is still alive. This BAMF just won't frickin' die Edit: This comment did not age well. RIP BG Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager, Dec 7, 2020

[@howardman3926]

I would love to meet him, but I have no idea how I would lol

[@Hyperious_in_the_air]

Friendly reminder that he went from being the first to break the sound barrier to watching SR-71's supercruise at mach 3.5+ in less than 16 years

[@MattMcIrvin]

@@howardman3926 He's on Twitter!

[@phmwu7368]

@@Hyperious_in_the_air And seeing the North American Aviation X-15 going above Mach 6.7

[@yowaddup5649]

@@howardman3926 he actively responds on twitter,maybe you can strike up a convo with him over the internet!

[@chrisjohnston4445]

"Hey, Ridley, ya got any Beemans?" "Yeah, I think I got me a stick." "Loan me some, will ya? I'll pay ya back later." "Fair enough."

[@scottmajor2620]

Chris Johnston best show ever

[@heavypen]

The Right Stuff. One of my top 10 favorite films.

[@thornefroemming7796]

While it makes for a good dynamic in the movie, in reality Jack Ridley was dead by the time this flight took place. He was the co-pilot of a C-47 which crashed in Japan on March 12, 1957.

[@peregreena9046]

@@thornefroemming7796 That's why his appearance at that point in the film is kinda as a ghost. He isn't interacting with Yeager other than by voice, which is ringing with echos from the past. He's just there in Yeager's mind.

[@surfinmuso37]

Damn it, now I have to watch it again

[@Jules92350]

Incredible work, thanks for these videos. Here is a fun fact from Wikipedia about the breaking of the sound barrier by Chuck Yeager : _Two nights before the scheduled date for the flight, Yeager broke two ribs when he fell from a horse. He was worried that the injury would remove him from the mission and reported that he went to a civilian doctor in nearby Rosamond, who taped his ribs._ What a mad lad

[@imapaine-diaz4451]

Yeah,, while burning of stress at panchos! the moonlight ride that didn't end so well. ready for business next day though.

[@eeevoo]

Probably the most underrated channel , ever

[@FQP-7024]

Actuly there are a very very big amount of other Sci-fi channels out there that do almost the same type of quality with a 10th of what this channel has

[@greentea1396]

@@FQP-7024 sci-fi? this accident happen in real life lmao

[@limbaksa]

true

[@FQP-7024]

@@greentea1396 I know but this type of content is consider CG and I ment it in that kind of way as in this tyoe of content even if it's not real life its amazingly done nonetheless

[@jorgewemyss3994]

Probably the highest clouds ever

[@victortenma5512]

Plane spin down uncontrollably *insert interstellar music*

[@rocketmanlb99]

this is no time for caution

[@BraidenRobson]

It sounds slightly different though. Which track is it?

[@j0k3r47]

@@BraidenRobson yeah which track?

[@Tawan175]

This is the music used in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnm3aIKhn7uCkKc&ab_channel=NoCopyrightMusic

[@cb7670]

@@Tawan175 Thank you! I was looking for this comment.

[@devindykstra]

You are so talented. It's a shame your work is so niche, it just doesn't get the widespread recognition it deserves.

[@greentea1396]

there are so many haters on him >:( like, just leave hazegrayart alone. He is just doing what he loves to do

[@devindykstra]

@@greentea1396 obviously I love his work and I'm glad he makes what he enjoys. It's just a blessing and a curse.

[@OGPatriot03]

I think the world needs more creators providing the highest quality works of art in their respective niches than grey nothing burgers that tend to captivate the masses but really satisfies no individual because it was made to appeal to the broadest audience. We certainly have the population for it now.

[@devindykstra]

@@OGPatriot03 oah yeah, that's really true.

[@josenotmarichan]

@@greentea1396 he has haters? why? :( his work is amazing....

[@nibbachibba2014]

how the hell do you make these . they are incredible

[@sideshowbob5237]

Yes excellent animation. How true to the true trajectory? Do we know?

[@GlimmerOfLight]

@@sideshowbob5237 there is (grainy) footage of this, and I am amazed at how accurate the reconstruction here is!

[@GRosa250]

Charles Elwood Yeager, “Chuck” was born on February 13, 1923 in Myra, West Virginia and he died on December 7, 2020 in Los Angeles, California at 97 years old. He was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who on October 14, 1947 flew the experimental Bell X-1, at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 ft, to became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight. Chuck is referred to by many as one of the greatest pilots of all time.

[@MrJeffcoley1]

Chuck stayed with the aircraft trying to recover it for quite a long time. I really thought that first chute would arrest the spin allowing him to recover the plane but it just couldn’t reestablish airflow for the wings and control surfaces to produce lift. If anyone could have recovered that plane, it was Chuck Yeager.

[@colorfulsouls4050]

He did recover it The engine failed to restart which is honestly hard to watch the struggle just for the engine to fail

[@10021walshke]

The engine was deliberately shut down as it was over heating at higher attitudes. The over heating was expected.

[@montigobear]

The sun-flair, metal oil-canning on the vehicle, the 'film' dirt artifacts. Most believable, sir. Movie quality stuff!

[@johnveld7540]

...clouds above at apogee shouldn’t be there though.

[@VoteScientist]

Also background shimmer as light passed through exhaust while taxiing.

[@dr_jaymz]

@@VoteScientist yes the distortion isn't quite right but when you watch each one, each step is vastly better. Oddly its the imperfections that make it more perfect.

[@oliviamoore3426]

It could be that it’s not supposed to look really real? Just a recreation of the event?

[@dr_jaymz]

@@oliviamoore3426 If you look at the attention to detail which is astonishing, then I think we know its supposed to look photo real as comparable footage from the mid 20th century, complete with that technicolor oddness and the lens artefacts. I think its brilliant.

[@SoloRenegade]

The more I learn about Chuck Yeager and all the machines he flew and incidents he encountered, the more I think, A) How did this guy survive all of these things? B) He really is deserving of all the glory heaped at him, and maybe even a little more. At a time when lots of other pilots died doing a fraction of what he accomplished, he did so much, and lived.

[@skenzyme81]

This makes a wonderful companion to the famous NF-104 scene in The Right Stuff. Chuck Yeager is the GOAT.

[@thunderbird1921]

Fun fact: Chuck Yeager was actually the chase pilot when Jackie Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier in a modified F-86 Sabre. How fitting!

[@HistoricalHindsight]

I like the shade thrown in the last paragraph of the description: "The crash is depicted in the movie "The Right Stuff." However, the director/writer changed most of the facts/events surrounding the crash. About the only thing they got right was that an F-104 did crash and it was piloted by Yeager."

[@aaronsmith8073]

He was shown to have walked away from the crash in the movie the Right Stuff

[@regibson23]

Him rolling out impromptu and having ATC be confused is more fun then real life. And then just assuming he has clearance shows that he was a legend.

[@MondoRockable]

Yeager himself is actually in The Right Stuff as a cameo - see the scenes at Panchos where "Fred the bartender' asks the suits if they want a whiskey.

[@craigwall9536]

@@aaronsmith8073 He walked away from the crash because _he wasn't in the airplane_ when it hit. Duh!

[@aaronsmith8073]

@@craigwall9536 he bailed out before the plane crashed! Duh!

[@kaimcmichael7945]

The last part of the video, of Yeager battling for control of the wayward F-104 as it plummets through the sky before ejecting to save his life was ABSOLUTELY photorealistic! This was like an archival quality restoration of historic footage taken during the actual event. And the choice of music made for a documentary quality presentation of what happened in the skies over Edwards that day, adding to its authenticity. You are very good at what you do lol... Excellent work.

[@tejas1205]

I highly recommend the movie, The Right Stuff

[@biketech60]

He makes a cameo appearance in it as a bartender .

[@tejas1205]

@@biketech60 Very similar to the Jim Lovell cameo in Apollo 13

[@Mike__G]

I liked that movie until I read what John Glenn had to say about it. While he liked the book, he called the movie, “Laurel and Hardy in space.” BTW, John Glenn was my childhood hero.

[@robvilla622]

@@Mike__G I agree completely. The way Gus Grissom was portrayed was shameful.

[@jimclark6256]

Yeager is the only airman to become an Air Force general without graduating from a military academy. He was an ace in ww2,and in Korea, he also was in Nam. He is the only pilot to destroy a jet fighter while flying a prop fighter. Towards the end of his final days was sad. His children fought over his money and tried to have him committed into a mental hospital. They did not succeed.

[@Ralphie750]

He's still alive...?

[@TheRyguy79]

He was most definitely not the only pilot with a jet kill in a prop plane, though he was one of the first.

[@fullflow1453]

He really got god mode in real life

[@Jayhawker32]

“Yeager is the only airman to become an Air Force general without graduating from a military academy.” That’s not even remotely true, there are plenty of Generals who were ROTC probably several who commissioned through other means as well.

[@terrydouglas5008]

Yeager was one of the last generals without a college degree.

[@paulglock3298]

I saw Brigadier General Yeager give a presentation at the Air and Space museum in DC, part of which was a discussion on this incident- there was a camera mounted facing out from the fuselage to record the view of the wing- absolutely amazing anyone could survive it. And he talks about these situations with a clarity and precision as if they had happened yesterday. Amazing times...amazing man

[@tomgreen1870]

The problems with the flight were all Yeager's fault. He would not listen to the chief Test pilot for the NF-104a. Climb angle was not 70 degrees and when he got to the 100,000 foot he did not correct the airplane with the thrusters. At that height the plane becomes a space plane not a airplane Look up Lt. Col. Robert Smith web page. He was the chief test pilot. He gives the accurate story . Chuck was good but not with this plane

[@1959Edsel]

Please do the "Cornfield Bomber," an F-106 that landed itself after the pilot ejected.

[@mindeloman]

This is probably going to be an unpopular comment but needs to be mentioned. Reality, is often much different than a lot of the fictions that makes it into movies. Movies are more for entertainment than to tell history.And it is no different than the true facts surrounding the story of this flight. All of my facts can be corroborated on www.nf104.com/ which come from Lt. Col. Robert W. Smith USAF who was on the program. It is a website you can spend a couple of hours reading and be absolutely enthralled. My brief summary of what happened with Yeager is below. To put it bluntly: Yeager screwed the pooch on this flight. He was EXTREMELY fortunate to not have died. USAF PR spin is what kept this mission appearing as a heroic mission instead of what it truly was - a major fuck-up by Yeager. Again, go to the website and read the entire history of the program and Yeager's brief part in it. Yeager, as commandant of the test flight school at Edwards, sort of elbowed his way into the program - that he wasn't invited too - nor was really qualified to be on it. The use of RCS was a major mission parameter of the program and Yeager had limited exposure and training with RCS. Yeager did multiple tests flights before that fateful flight and Smith amongst others were not impressed with Yeager's inability to maintain the required pitch attitude on the zoom. I could be confusing some facts here (I read over the website a few years back) so feel free to review, critique, and rebuke; but as I remember it, Smith said that Yeager waited too late too to shut-down the turbine engine and engage the rocket propulsion motor. The windmilling turbine from the engine, that was shut down too late, created a gyroscopic force that caused precession that the NF104 RCS was unable to overcome. (up in thin air the control surfaces are ineffective. RCS is the only way to control) This caused the unrecoverable flat spin. The thing that really pissed off all the engineers and scientists working on the program was: Yeager had no business being in the program and when the top brass with the USAF got wind that their poster boy /golden child was nearly killed, they shut the program down. Then the USAF media arm made sure they painted Yeager as a hero and it was the plane and the program that nearly killed him. There should've been a board of inquiry but to my knowledge, no such thing occurred. The Air Force wanted it to quietly go away. Mostly because of Cold War politics and the USSR could use Yeager's fuck-up as good anti-American propaganda. As for the guys putting in all their hard work, time, and energy into the program, they were just starting to get really good and interesting data and really starting to understand transitioning from traditional flight atmospheric control to RCS control in a near vacuum environment. Yeager's little stunt for further self-glorification ended what was a truly interesting scientific endeavor. It's no surprise to some why the name "Yeager" doesn't sit well to some people. Smith stopped short of name calling and so forth, but you can tell in his tone that he didn't care too much for Yeager because of that stunt. I want to categorically state, everything above does not take-away from any and all of Yeager's other accomplishments and exploits. He was truly a gifted and talented pilot. He just wasn't qualified to participate in the NF-104 program.

[@chrisediger2061]

I'm always amazed at the level of detail in these videos. If someone had shown me this video and said it was actual archive footage I would probably have believed them.

[@conzmoleman]

wait… its not???

[@Eo_Tunun]

You even got the motions of the plane sorted very credibly, the point where most others fail! A brilliant piece of computer arts, mate!

[@JohnReiher]

A flat spin is very hard to get out of. Firing the drag chute was a great way to get some control so he could eject.

[@jimmyfreemantle879]

Control was impossible as his engine was out and he had no hydraulic controls. The tailplane was locked in a pitch up setting. Getting the nose down would build up some airspeed and maybe windmill the engine enough for a restart. Unfortunately releasing the drag chute just allowed the aircraft to pitch nose high and resume the spin. Ejection was inevitable

[@jim2lane]

@@jimmyfreemantle879 - so the F-104 had no control surface/hydraulic capabilities in an engine out scenario, but they purposefully sent one into an environment where an engine out scenario was expected? In addition to the fact that the vehicle had no RCS in place to provide a graceful reentry attitude. Were they intentionally trying to get a pilot killed all for an altitude record? 🤔

[@jimmyfreemantle879]

@@jim2lane it's not a fact that the a/c had no RCS. In fact the NF104s had hydrogen peroxide RCS thrusters. But I read that the flight profile left little margin for error.. the modified Starfighter had to fly a precise profile and get well above 100000' to ensure the RCS had enough authority to be able to nose the aircraft down to windmill the engine for a restart. More than one nf104 was lost during testing for various reasons. And yes, an engine out was inevitable due to high altitude / oxygen starvation. They even built in nitrogen bottles to pressurise the cockpit as the engine could not provide the bleed air.

[@MH-WM]

Yes, it can be somewhat difficult at times. I pulled one back one time in my SR-71 at 65,000 feet, thought I was a goner 😮😬

[@bravoalpha101st]

@@MH-WM what flight sim were you using?

[@z33r0now3]

Often movies and animation have non believable movement and physics. Not this one. Looks like the real deal. Wonderful job.

[@Dronte75]

Kelly Johnson: -Please can someone use my fighter plane design as a fighter plane Vladimir Myasishchev: -That plane needs more engines and a mothership with at least twelve engines and also ... more engines. Wile E. Coyote: -My typical workday Germans: -Of course that F-104 had to crash, it's Thursday

[@williamstock3007]

Love your work

[@pirobot668beta]

"Catch a falling Star-fighter, and put it in the pocket of your jeans. You can us it as a cigarette lighter, or to open up a can of beans..." Captain Lockheed and the Star-fighters The F-104 G had such an abysmal record that a band wrote an entire album dedicated to the folly. Each song details some aspect of the engineering, politics and foolishness that was the F-104 G!

[@macwizer]

I was a young Airman at EAFB Flight Test Center during the NF104 flight program. One thing they didn’t count on with flame out inAB the AB shroud was translated back. When they achieved air start on the way down the AB shroud would automatically translate close. First time the shroud dropped over the fuselage catching. When it air started and translated close it pulled in the empennage like a crushed beer can. We did finally figure out a rigging for the AB to prevent this happening

[@ambiguitiy1207]

He just passed away on December 7, 2020. God bless and rest in peace, Chuck.

[@bravoalpha101st]

What’s the music?

[@Genuinespaceman]

musica vitorioso emocionante neo electro is the music. I hope your doing wlel and still active man!

[@logictheorist]

Great animation, but a technically inaccurate representation of the flight. The takeoff and climb was normal until 40,000 feet after which he went to full afterburner and began his test profile. At 60,000 feet the rocket motor was ignited. FYI, there were no clouds after 40,000 feet that day. Just clear air. Above 65,000 feet the sky is nearly black, not blue. At 78,000 feet he shut off the jet engine to prevent overheat. At 100,000 feet the rocket engine was cut off. The rest was coasting on momentum. Why did he go into a flat spin? His pitch angle was too shallow. At or above 100,000 feet the planes control surfaces (rudder, elevators, and ailerons) are no longer effective due to the thin atmosphere. In place of them, the plane had reaction control thrusters. However, these do not become effective until above 110,000 feet due to the remaining atmospheric resistance. The plane only reached 104,000 feet (not 108,700). Without flight controls he re-entered the lower atmosphere at an angle which evolved into a flat spin. In a flat spin there is not enough aerodynamic pressure entering the engine intakes to restart the engine. The glide ratio of an unpowered F-104 has been described as equivalent to a set of car keys. To Yeager's credit, he remained cool and collected, tried everything to recover, and only bailed out at the last possible second.

[@NoahSpurrier]

This is CGI. This looks like the real video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/npLCiIafiK6Fis0

[@stickman3214]

Ah... so many instagram pages reposting this video with no credit as "real footage"

[@raine8553]

it was genius to use brsking parachute to lower the falling speed of the plane

[@russdill]

My impression was that it was an attempt to get the nose down and recover from the spin

[@tachyonicnewt2473]

Maybe a little of both

[@jimmyfreemantle879]

@@russdill absolutely right! He had no engine so the need to get the nose down was really to force some air into the intake duct to windmill the engine RPM enough to restart the engine..without it he had no controls and ejection was inevitable

[@ElsinoreRacer]

@@russdill ...and getting the turbine to turn as it drove the control system hydraulics....

[@tanzaniteskyy8944]

Rip to Yeager 7 December 👨‍✈️ 👇

[@ivanalvarez5511]

Music?

[@avigator]

Charles Elwood „Chuck“ Yeager 1923 - 2020 Godspeed Chuck!

[@elopeous3285]

that was some real cinematic quality renderings right there. You are one hell of a qualified visual artist. also source link broke

[@jackdundon2261]

Agreed now we have seen a super-stall.

[@ProvVFX]

Your work is fantastic! You have an eye for cinematography. I started following you a few days ago. What do you use to render these animations?

[@ChicagoAirportSpotter]

I like how you can see both Hyundai's and Honda's desert test tracks at 3:15 when the NF-104 is falling our the sky - those weren't built until pretty recently 😅 But seriously, this is a really well-done animation when you compare it side-by-side with the real footage of the plane spiraling out of the sky and Yeager bailing out.

[@Nighthawke70]

If it were anyone else driving that vehicle....

[@matthewconnor5483]

Love the old film effect on videos to give them that retro look.

[@unitedstatesball8866]

*Can you do a simulation of the WW2 German Silbervogel suborbital bomber in your next video?? Thanks :)*

[@greentea1396]

but most importantly, Chuck Yeager survives i don't careabout the plane crash, at least the pilot survives

[@JimD-jr3xe]

Are we sure that wasn't Captain John Christopher climbing to intercept the Enterprise?

[@Workerbee-zy5nx]

The right stuff did this scene too.

[@djavamaoekar]

Next video: dynetics lunar lander landing on the moon

[@ironcladranchandforge7292]

RIP Chuck Yeager, this day of December 7th 2020. A great American and hero.

[@snagfree]

I met Gen. Yeager way back in 1987 at Beale A.F.B. I had just finished reading his autobiography and of course he was in the AC Delco battery commercials at that time. That was the first and only time I got to meet a true American Hero.

[@luizbillora]

Esse acidente é muito bem representado no filme The Right Stuff de 1983. Inclusive o proprio Yeager aparece atuando em uma curta cena do filme que conta a historia do envio do primeiro americano ao espaço, o projeto Mercury e os Mercury Seven.

[@XNY556-Apple]

É um dos meus filmes favoritos.

[@maxbrazil3712]

Yeager was natural pilot with spectacular reflexes and falcon like eyesight. However, his lack of education and discipline made him incapable of flying precise "by the numbers" test flights. He failed this altitude mission because he thought he could fly by the seat of his pants when a precise flight plan was required but Yeager ignored it. He stalled his aircraft and destroyed it. Yeager was passed over by the astronaut program because NASA needed educated engineers and pilots that could adhere to strict flight plans.

[@oscarthomasson8462]

Beautiful video! If you take requests how the 2004 shoot down of a malfunctioning spy satellite by the USS Lake Erie?

[@ivanalvarez5511]

Anyone have the source for the music?

[@LolLol-lf8xb]

Did u find it

[@ThePretender1]

I first knew the hero in a PC flight sim in the 90s, chuck yeager's air combat, fell in love quickly.

[@douglasdegraff8335]

This still to me is one of the greatest Nerves of Steel that Chuck Yeager performed. I believe He would've been a GREAT astronaut!!!

[@ros.kosmos]

very dramatic! Even looking scary.

[@ericstyles3724]

Perhaps Chuck could've taxied over to the hanger & parked his ego first.

[@AV4Life]

What? So you’re telling me he flew that thing up to 100,000 feet to show off, not because it was literally a test flight planned out by the military? Ok.

[@fax10]

That’s exactly what he’s saying. Chuck wanted the altitude record for himself. He was the commander of the school. Who was going to tell him no

[@frankthespank]

Dude what is the music in this video? It’s epic!

[@Tsirkon]

Hold J to leave your aircraft

[@vyc_vyprr2296]

LMAO

[@Xneutrone]

masterclass material

[@ultramilk3323]

Masyaallah

[@ScoutSniper3124]

Beautiful footage. I like that you added the scratches and defects you'd find in older film. It's near perfect. I would ask you displayed the altitude in the corner. It'd be nice to know exactly how high he got the Starfighter, and at what altitude he opted to eject due to the flat spin. Either way, WELL DONE!

[@michaelmcgovern8110]

WOW Control surface movement - I can see it. "Inertia coupling". This is how they learned.

[@aperson9375]

Wow that's a beautiful animation. hats off.

[@channelthefire2745]

The question is: Who is Hazergrayart? Excellent work.

[@joncrowley8227]

Not bad for homemade CGI. The full video is a complete giveaway. Plus, when this occurred, the USAF was shooting 16mm and 35mm film-- there's no grain or scratches in what is a "video look." Also, the USAF didn't hand the technology to track a falling object this steadily (watch a Falcon or Artemis launch and you'll see it still isn't perfect). I don't mind historic re- creations, but it should be labled as such.

[@1wwtom]

The explanation in the Right Stuff book was that when the engine spooled down at the peak of the climb the elevator lost its hydraulics to change the angle of attack and the peroxide thrusters in the nose were insufficient to push the nose down. He did try the braking chute to get the nose down and get the engine started but when he released the chute the nose went back up as it still didn't have any hydraulic pressure. And that was that.

[@kyleboatright7403]

The explanation by the guy who managed the program and SUCCESSFULLY flew the NF-104 to well above the height Yeager achieved was that Chuck was a stick and rudder pilot, not a "fly this exact profile" pilot and didn't fly the profile accurately. According to him, Yeager got the aircraft so slow at the apogee of the flight that he stalled/spun, and that was the end of that. The reason he got so slow was that he didn't pitch the aircraft to the appropriate angle on the initial climb pitch-up (the climb to high altitude started from level flight at ~M2 and 35K', from memory). That robbed him of potential altitude, then Yeager compounded the problem by "chasing" the climb angle. So he ended up in no-man's land, where neither the aerodynamic or reaction controls could right the ship before losing control.

[@iKenFlyPPG]

This is like a beginner RC airplane where you only have rudder and elevator authority, except this is a big metal dart.

[@adamchurvis1]

For three years I marched past the ass-end of one of these in perfect operating condition three times a day at Marine Military Academy, which had only a four-foot chain link fence separating the Mess Hall from the portion of the Harlingen Airport that served as the base for the (then-named) Confederate Air Force, or CAF, which owned it. Fifi, the last flying B-29, was right next to it.

[@Wayoutthere]

Chuck fought it all the way down.

[@Nightwing690]

The F104 Starfighter earned "The Widowmaker" nickname for a reason

[@koczisek]

Yeager is probably best pilot in the world, but still... trying to reach over 30km alt. in a flying dural coffin (~25% loss per 100'000 flight-hours, and ~30% overall fleet loss), with hardly any wings (half the fuselage length), 15km service ceiling, terrible longitudinal and directional stability and zero spin recovery, is the very bad idea! For comparison U-2 had 24km service ceiling with 31m wingspan. If one threw a rock on a stick into a void it'd have better stability on reentry.

[@oldmanfunky4909]

Hey this was really great! I had seen the movie "the right stuff" in the 80's and knew much about Chuck Yeager, However I didn't know the F-104 starfighter he crashed was modified with a rocket! I had always assumed it was a normal F-104! Just goes to show how a movie can distort real history!

[@flymachine]

How accurate is this simulation? Was there some sort of ‘black box’ that recorded the inputs and movements and altitude that informed your recreation? Fascinating to watch

[@aerospacematt9147]

Ah yes, the F-104. The “Missile with a man in it” First US fighter to break Mach 2.

[@Michael_Bradburn]

Anything higher than 80,000 feet requires more than mach 3 to control with wings that small. Otherwise not enough force to work against with control surfaces.

[@captainmax573]

My good friend LT Colonel Clarence Gilles had the lucky chance to fly with the legend a few times!

[@sikaheimo]

Correct link to the source: www.thexhunters.com/xpeditions/nf-104a_aircraft.html

[@dsdy1205]

www.kalimera.org/nf104/stories/stories_11.html Plus the next 2 stories, interesting account by Robert Smith, one of the pilots in the NF-104 program. Unreliable source by a single narrator, sure; but if true then at least some of the blame for the spin might be down to Yeager's unfamiliarity with controlling the NF-104 in a vacuum, contrary to the investigation results.

[@fernandogurrea804]

And behind the magnificent plane, the genius, Mr Clarence "Kelly" Johnson. Time of héroes! Respect!

[@Gr8mate13]

Can some one explain to me how this was filmed , why were they filming at this exact time or was this a deliberate flat spin stall and practice ejection trial. Absolute legend was Chuck Yeager such feats of bravery, pushed extremes

[@jackdundon2261]

Chuck Yeager have the right stuff. He was also the test pilot for the space shuttle.

[@JMCrookston]

Apropos nothing really, but Chuck Yeager's Air Combat was an amazing game for its era. I still remember experiencing the pancake effect pulling up out of a dive.

[@sugrue8526]

The flat spin is not gentle as portrayed here. You left out the part of the seat ejection rocket catching his face on fire and nearly suffocating him and when he funnels air into his helmet to breathe it makes the fire more intense and burns his hands. And when he gets to the ground he neatly gathers his parachute as proper military conduct mandates. Other than that, it’s a good video, except the tail rocket was for at altitude with no air to burn.

[@gerrycrisostomo6571]

Jet planes climbing at very high altitudes are in danger of seizing engines. That is because of very cold temperatures at high altitudes. Once the engine seizes because of lack of oxygen to burn the fuel, the rushing sub-zero cold air as the plane plunges towards the ground can freeze the engine very quickly and prevent it from restarting because the turbines are stuck and won't move. Unfortunately, this has happened also to one of the passenger planes which was supposed to be delivered to the airline company and was unoccupied by the passengers at the time of the accident. The two pilots decided to test the maximum altitude that the plane is capable of reaching, even to exceed it if possible. They reached more than 42,000 feet which was beyond that aircraft's maximum operating altitude. The two engines both seized and froze immediately so that they could not restart it. The plane crashed and killed the two pilots and the crews on board.

[@Genuinespaceman]

musica vitorioso emocionante neo electro is the music for every one looking for it.

[@xsixinfantryx]

Should be making Chuck Yeager jokes, not Chuck Norris ones.....

[@bigemugamer]

Don't record the actual crash, it might be to tramatic for people to watch in 2023

[@smmfdftbh]

Reminds me of the spin maneuver Mathew McConaughey did in Interstellar. I know its way different, but I bet the intensity of it all is close to the same

[@vintageringsGarry]

Too much breakfast at the Antelope valley Inn ? Too bad all the shutes didn't deploy. Or was their just one brake shute? Nice ride.

[@teddysmith1952]

Don't waste your time with this amateurish video......

[@flitsies]

Just as a thought here but with an aircraft like this, why don't they have an remote control system so when the pilot ejects someone could try a last ditched effort to save the plane before it crashes. IE to try something anything that couldn't be done while the plane had a pilot. Perhaps have pilots eject earlier and then let the remote system try things that a pilot wouldn't be able to try. Perhaps it's not possible but perhaps it is, I heard that planes can do things pilots can't survive so maybe something could be done to save the plane after the pilot has ejected, if they eject early enough. Just a thought.

[@Elvispresley16]

Great simulation of what happened to Chuck. Unfortunately, there is no film about it because he made it against the law, without permission.

[@joegreblo810]

I viewed the original footage that was of course in very poor resolution but my memory suggests that this must be a wonderfully clear and accurate reproduction or enhancement of that original footage. kudos

[@f270]

What are we watching? Is this from the movie the right stuff? The beginning is clearly simulated. The later clips look like real life

[@ckdigitaltheqof6th210]

Well that was one heck of a Rocket theme park ride or what, just a tad bid, of way too much more adventurous than the Virgin Galactic unity.