Falling From the Edge of Space: Chuck Yeager's Wild Ride

[@TodayIFoundOut]

Thanks to Mack Weldon for sponsoring this video. To get 20% off your first order, visit mackweldon.com/brainfood20 and enter promo code: brainfood20

[@daddyozatez]

0

[@binaryglitch64]

Closed Captains are 'unavailable'... you speak so clearly I don't see why autogenerated captains wouldn't work if you didn't feel like going through the script and formatting it to plain text with time stamps and carriage returns and all that hassle. I get it if your not trying to do all that, but why not allow autogenerated captions?

[@typxxilps]

bad plane, saw them falling out of the sky killing people - bought due to corruption by the country of the free - who else is protecting their own business and then judging others for being guilty. Remember that von Braun and other became citizens of the USA and then a 17 year old forced as KZ and prisoncamp guard from Lithuania who had become also a US citizen was expelled 70 years later - and finally judget unguilty in one of the latest KZ cases. The free - among the stupids selling planes with corruption.

[@AundreiFrieght]

I'll still stay indoors... But thanks for the new discovery of new clothes to buy...

[@timmoles9259]

The star and cycle change channel

[@theejectionsite1038]

Couple of points - 1 - the ejection seat in the NF-104 was a C-2 upward firing rocket-catapult seat. The seat is fired by a central handle on the front of the seat pan that jettisons the canopy and executes pre-ejection items like retracting the inertial reel to position the occupant upright, erecting the thigh guards which also both deploys the arm nets and retracts the feet using the balls attached to the spurs worn on the feet. The ROCAT then receives a gas pulse to fire the catapult portion, a shell that drives the telescoping tube and its payload, the about 400lbs of pilot, seat, and gear up the rails. Just prior to the tube separation the rocket is ignited to continue the acceleration to clear the tail or on a ground ejection to provide time for the rest of the actions. About one second after seat movement the rocket has been no longer providing thrust for about a half second, and the seat man separation occurs. This begins by a delay initiator sending a gas pulse to initiators to first open the lap belt, sever the cables connected to the foot retracts, and then to the seat/man separation rotary initiator. This is behind the headrest and has a 'Y' shaped strap that goes down behind the parachute and under the survival kit. The single portion retracts into the initiator and this is to push the seat away from the man and gear. There is a cable attached to the lap belt and to the parachute which operates a barostatic device with a mechanical timer. If the parachute is activated over 10,000 feet the barostat restricts the timer until it is below that level. Then the timer runs (often for about 1 second). This is to provide separation between the seat and man (the man has more inertial mass and should normally fly further away than the seat due to the air resistance on both.) In Yeager's case the separation was inadequate due to the flat spin being so directly vertical that the seat hung above him in the relative wind (generated by the falling objects travelling thru the air.) When the parachute timer fired it retracted the pins holding the parachute flaps closed allowing the spring loaded pilot chute to push them open and catch air. It then began pulling the parachute deployment bag out and increased the relative drag. While this was happening the seat tumbled and may have stabilized in a 'rocking chair' butt low position as they often due. The drag vs. mass on Yeager and his gear eventually (in seconds) slowed his descent to the point that the seat now was falling faster and struck him in the hear. From there your description is accurate (not to say before wasn't just wanted to expand that a little for detail freaks.) 2- Yeager's flights were approved and yes his attention to detail on these sorties were not up to standards leading to the aircraft not meeting the attitude marks, however the assessment that he was not up to space flight didn't really apply as he was in normal atmospheric flight at the time. The other thing to note is his mishap did teach them a bit about how the gyroscopic effect of the spinning engine was affecting the flight. 3- I would object to the Vostok ejection seat description as being 'fighter jet' like. Each seat is typically designed for the specific application and a seat for the reentry pattern involved has a very different seat of requirements than a fighter jet. For a related seat the Gemini ejection seats were not only designed for a higher and faster envelope than a fighter planes, but they also were specifically designed for an off-the-pad ejection with a requirement for an 800ft horizontal clearance from an exploding rocket. (Note often people talk about this as a death sentence if the pilots were to eject after being soaked in oxygen on the pad citing the Apollo 1 fire. In reality as described above the rocket ignition occurs at seat/cockpit separation and the limited time for the exposure would likely not ignite the materials. Indeed this was actually reviewed by NASA and Weber who designed it and the materials of the harness and chute were intentionally not flammable.) Thanks for these videos, I enjoy them a lot! Kevin The Ejection Site

[@operator1192]

I met Gen. Chuck Yeager and got to speak with him for a while and even in his later years he was as sharp as a tack and a real American legend.

[@jbrisby]

Back when white people were allowed to be legends.

[@ethancooper1560]

I live in the same county as chuck yeager but never met him

[@skyhawk_4526]

I joined the US Air Force in 1994 in California. My recruiter knew Chuck Yeager and many recruits met him as a result of that (great recruiting tool). I personally never got to meet him. But God bless him - He's a true legend.

[@operator1192]

@@skyhawk_4526 that’s kind of actually how I got to meet him. He was on a USO tour in Afghanistan back in 2011-2012 timeframe and I was deployed there with the AF at the time too. It was an unbelievable honor to hear some of his war stories and to share a conversation with him for a while after. I was amazed more people didn’t attend but I also get privileged because I got to talk with him for a while as a result.

[@Louis_Davout]

@@operator1192 Everyone deserves at least one "Forrest Gump" moment I their lives...

[@Alfiemon]

The amount of videos you and your teams make are outstanding

[@clintonclintoff3623]

yh I agree but his wife and child might not...

[@k-doggy1762]

Not just quantity but quality too.

[@billhasadeathwish2470]

They have to be so efficient. They seem to really have it down to a process but the videos don’t seem “formulated” or repetitive

[@martyndavidson6598]

i am waiting on simon to go full meta and do top10 simon whistler channels by viewership

[@jeremys.950]

I think that mega projects could use a video Monday thru Friday lol

[@bluetopguitar1104]

A nasa F104 was hanging in the air and space museum in Washington D.C. for many years.Yeager was a true legend. Not always great at p.r. but always very truthful in his interviews. A very admirable man.

[@hashtag415]

I'm a time traveler from 2026 and I've got some important news for you. Simon is going for the ZZ Top look. He'll even be wearing hats and making cool hand gestures.

[@sirmingusdewiv8325]

He'll shave for ad money from Gillette.

[@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718]

@@sirmingusdewiv8325 Unless his beard oil is more profitable.

[@yeeyee9970]

Texas Goatee

[@SEAZNDragon]

@@sirmingusdewiv8325 Well Dollar Shave Club is still a sponsor so I doubt that.

[@adamloverin231]

Two guys known for their beards. But the 3rd guy, the drummer, (who has no epic beard) bears the last name Beard. Today I Found Out.

[@YeeSoest]

Fun fact: When the german Bundeswehr had Starfighters, they crashed and emergency landed so often, people started joking "do you want a starfighter? Buy a field and wait a week"

[@Jonas.N]

Yeah, the Bundeswehr is a joke. The German navy also bought 200 helicopters that were not allowed to fly over water.

[@alsanchez5038]

When they used it as fighter-bomber with badly trained maintenance crews it failed. It try plowing a field with a sportscar. The result will be similar.

[@YeeSoest]

@@Jonas.N let's say they're more of a recon, artillery and cyber unit than an infantry, navy or air force...or anything else actually combat related ^^

[@MirZZi]

Yeah, it was an interesting read a good while back. Their pilots jumped from from Thunderstreaks and Sabres into a vastly faster aircraft and tried to use it as fighter-bomber. They weren't used to the flying characteristics of the Starfighters which were extremely fast with acceleration and cruise speed compared to the previous planes they had operated. That along with the small stubby wings that don't exactly shine with divebombing as the lack of wing area doesn't create as much lift as the older planes they were used to did, you've got a good recipe for guaranteed pancaking. It's a really tragicomic tale of the 60's and 70's for the Luftwaffe.

[@jblob5764]

@@Jonas.N a

[@burntorangeak]

F104 lawn dart. Easiest way to acquire one is to have a farm near a service base.

[@sirmingusdewiv8325]

I got the reference. Funny. Well done.

[@Ass_of_Amalek]

apparently here in german it was called what I believe is translatable as picket stake, among other names. probably our number one least pooular plane together with the 737 max.

[@richdouglas2311]

Yeager was going to retire as a Colonel, having been passed over for Brigadier General. A highly-placed general noticed this and said that a hero like Yeager (broke the sound barrier, WWII ace) should retire as a general. Thus, he was promoted. Deservedly so. Gagarin was a hero, but the Russians cheated by having him eject prior to landing. Sheppard, however, didn't orbit the Earth like Gagarin. The US was having problems with its Atlas rocket, the one designed to get an astronaut into orbit. After Gagarin's flight, the US was desperate to get someone into space, so they sent Sheppard on a sub-orbital flight on a Redstone rocket.

[@pushing2throttles]

Because of General Yeager and his coolness depicted in "The Right Stuff", I was inspired to be a pilot. Because of that movie, not that shitty crap of a movie Top Gun, I became a pilot. Thank you General Yeager. May you rest in peace. You were the best pilot any of us ever saw!

[@MandleRoss]

Hehehe nice tribute to the movie there in that last sentence.

[@1pjodan]

You can be my wingman anytime

[@Tedinator01]

You boys drink whiskey?

[@Tedinator01]

Sir, is that a man? You’re damn right it is!

[@Jimmystyles936]

Reading his book fueled my love of flight and inspired me to get my private pilots license too. He is my hero still to this day.

[@pamelamays4186]

Dyna Soar. Cleverest project name ever.

[@sukrpunch]

Jesus christ the "blood cooked over his eyes making a shield" xD

[@cryharder1877]

What's up with the blasphemy?

[@scottbruffy9071]

There was a flying video game in the 90s and when you crashed Chuck Yeager would say "get back up there and try it again".

[@dancom3207]

Are you talking about the pc game in the early to mid-90s?

[@scottbruffy9071]

Yes!

[@dancom3207]

@@scottbruffy9071 It was my favorite game!

[@scottbruffy9071]

@@dancom3207 Ha, awesome! We're, like, the only two people! I was 12, maybe 13, my family didn't have it but my buddy across the street did on their computer. I'd go over after school and practice my flying skills. Man. The memories.

[@akashahuja2346]

Fantastic game 'chuck yeager's air combat'. It covered ww2, korea and Vietnam. And you could mix up aircraft from all the periods. Loved it.

[@jayabramson6702]

I can’t swear to Yeager’s 1997 anniversary boom, but he did it in 1987. I was at Edwards AFB for their open house. He flew in an F4 Phantom, and the nose had “Glamorous Glennis” painted on it. Just like the X1. Great video!

[@dafien530]

his wife Glennis.. from my town. my step-dads mother knew her.

[@MrLothsmodelmaking]

Shout out to the Belgian airforce F104 pilot lt. Ongena, the man renowned for using the inherent aerodynamic instabilities of the f104 to perform touch - roll - touch manoeuvres. Literally touch it down, powering back up, doing a roll, touch it down again all in the length of one runway.

[@KyleCowden]

Another complication that was not covered here was that the huge intake turbine acted as a flywheel/gyroscope following the engine's compressor stall. In the rarified air, the control surfaces could not affect change and the spinning turbine hastened the departure into a flat spin.

[@rosswhittle1910]

I'm glad you went with the reality of the incident, rather than the versions told by "The right stuff" and Yeager himself. He was "economical with the truth" in his autobiography about this incident. Simple fact is he did not fly with sufficient accuracy to achieve the desired outcome. One unfortunate fact you didn't cover was he then tried very hard to shift blame for the incident, and was assisted by the military supplication to one of it's hero's, with a terribly conducted "official" enquiry finally laying the majority of the blame of the writers of the flight manual!!! Yeager did many great things, but this was a dent in his legacy.

[@MandleRoss]

Best scene in The Right Stuff!

[@jamesparsons5212]

Yes we here in the USA do call them long johns or long underwear.

[@Yezpahr]

9:10 missed opportunity to say "The Dinosaur went the way of the dinosaurs".... missed opportunity to go "BADABUM BUM TSS"

[@bez750]

We was asking for a chuck video and here it is. Props to you and your team simon👍

[@melangellatc1718]

"We was"????

[@bez750]

@@melangellatc1718 yeah. We was.. ages ago after one of Simons videos. We, being me and loads of other people in his comments. Guess you had to be there... But you wasn't

[@AnxiousWreck21]

I was born and raised in the small rural town that Chuck Yeager and his family retired in and lived. He was a ‘local figure’ since small town’s don’t often have a claim to fame. Chuck was a massive a-hole. And an actual menace on the road. Everyone knew his car, and should shake their heads when he was around them on the roads. I heard a lot of “why does he even have a license anymore”. He was also a grumpy a-hole most of the time to people, like clerks and baggers. That said, there was still lots of sadness when he passed, and he was a person who was in history and made an impact in the world at large. He was very old, lived a long accomplished life.

[@wrightmf]

FYI, from Bob Smith who sent me this explanation of a small website I made of the NF104 back in late 1990s. Smith later acquired the domain www.nf104.com/ and began writing his bio along with other items for the NF-104 shortly before he died. Another Explanation of Yeager’s Crash The following is from William Haynes, grad of the USAF TP School, class of 1956. A classmate, Robert Smith, was pilot of the NF-104 and still holds the world altitude record for ground launched aerospacecraft. Regarding the above explanation, the most egregious is the lack of mention of Bob Smith as primary pilot and the inaccurate description of Yeager’s narrow escape. Col. Haynes (USAF ret) was involved in the DynaSoar space glider project at the time of Yeager’s bailout, and was shown what happened by Bob Hoey, then Deputy Flight Test Engineer for Edwards.* Right after Yeager’s accident Bob asked if I would like to know what happened? He sat me down in a fixed base simulator of the NF-104 that had just been programmed to display the NF’s flight characteristics. He put me at altitude with the nose straight down and said “OK, now jettison the anti-spin chute and recover from the dive.” I jettisoned it and came forward gently on the stick. The aircraft slowed its nose up rate momentarily and then accelerated nose up and entered a flat spin. With no more anti-spin chute there was nothing I could do, just as Yeager could not either. Then Bob re-initiated the original conditions and said: “OK, this time when you jettison the chute come full forward on the stick.” I protested that I would go inverted, but he said do it. I jettisoned and came full forward on the stick. The aircraft hesitated, remained vertical and began picking up indicated airspeed. As it built up I was able to slowly recover and begin a controlled descent. Bob Hoey then told me that the stability derivatives from Bob’s flights had not been reduced until after Yeager flew. They had tried to get Yeager to wait ‘til they were done and he could train in the simulator but he refused, insisting that “If Smith can fly it, I can.” That’s the real reason that Yeager lost the airplane and almost lost his life. The real tragedy is that when Yeager failed to recover, the concensus was that the test school could not fly such a dangerous aircraft and the project was cancelled, thereby depriving the school and its students of a tool that would have allowed real cutting edge training and development of some cracker jack test pilots. By the way, the NF’s jet engine flamed out well before max altitude and could not be restarted until well into the recovery and after lower altitude/denser air was reached. *Bob Hoey has written Testing Lifting Bodies at Edwards at www.patprojects.org/LiftingBody/contents.htm

[@richtravis9562]

thanks for this. it matched up with some other things id heard.

[@mdr48371]

There was that time an F-104 Starfighter intercepted the Starship Enterprise, though strangely all the records of it disappeared.

[@twocvbloke]

What about the time an invisible ship was seen landing by those bin men in San Francisco? Or the guy who videoed a strange spoon-shaped vessel with glowing blue wings flying right over Los Angeles? :P

[@Reality_Filter]

A full biographic on General Chuck Yeager next please?

[@randallcline1176]

General Yeager released his autobiography in 1985 titled YEAGER. I've read it 3 times and and am still blown away by this man's accomplishments. When he broke the sound barrier in 1947 he did so with broken ribs from a horse riding accident. If you want a full account of his life I highly recommend reading his book. You will be impressed as well I'm sure.

[@jimmbbo]

Another excellent video... Yeager referred to the Mercury astronauts as "spam in a can", as they were primarily occupants in a ballistic projectile instead of pilots...

[@deltavee2]

Which led to windows being installed on the capsules thenceforth.

[@Recon777x]

An old, bold pilot. Nobody saw that coming!

[@MrBaller4Life14]

I love these, wish I had more time to watch them.

[@templarw20]

Have you done a Biographics on Yeager, yet?

[@Sinn0100]

My uncle was one of the key engineers that built the SR-71. He said while it was exceedingly fast the thing was a huge bucket of bolts that leaked oil profusely. He also mentioned that they're known for shaking themselves apart...something to do with the vibration I don't know. Apparently no one cared about its many, many problems and just wanted it to "haul ass." I have heard the SR-71 Blackbird can leave most SAMS (Surface to Air Missiles) like they're sitting still. I wonder how many pilots blacked out while flying one from the G-forces.

[@dk2614]

Unless turning sharply while cruising. Going in a straight line and speeding up while already going fast the G forces would be negligible. Mostly because the engines would have to increase their own speed by many more times for the G forces to be felt in the same way. There's a mathematical formula for it but I was more the aircraft mechanic type that the pilot.

[@dk2614]

NASA astronauts experience about 17gs for about 90 seconds or so. The SR 71 wouldn't create a whole lot of G s

[@theejectionsite1038]

@@dk2614 Not sure where you got that info. Capsule launches were closer to 4-5G on the way up and about 7-8G on the way down as I recall. Shuttle crew experienced less

[@dk2614]

@@theejectionsite1038 I think I got my numbers all jumbled up. I believe they exit earth's gravity at 17,000 miles per hour to get into orbit. And some how it became 17 Gs. Thanks for the clarity.

[@Swordmaster-em3zg]

I’m from West Virginia like Chuck Yeager and I wish we learned more about him and what he’s done for Science and Space.

[@Greatblue56]

Read his book, Yeager: An Autobiography. You’ll love it! Very good read straight from the horse’s (or in this case, the GOAT’s) mouth.

[@TommyShlong]

Read his autobiography. It's awesome

[@TheEvilCommenter]

Good video 👍

[@charliekezza]

Omg i had a budgie i called "the widow maker". He was actually a 4 time widower, his mates had drowned and hung themselves or just randomly killed themselves.

[@Ass_of_Amalek]

that would make him a widower, or a black widower if he killed the other budgies. he's not a widowmaker if he hasn't made anybody else a widow.

[@mentalpopcorn2304]

@@Ass_of_Amalek he's making himself a widow

[@charliekezza]

@@Ass_of_Amalek i know but "the widow maker" sounded better than "the widower" or "killer husband"

[@JimBob-vb8oz]

Sure they did

[@charliekezza]

I had more than 100 budgies so i ended up giving them some strange names after a while. Descriptive names or names that followed down generations of similar coloured birds or things they liked like "water bird" or "drop bird" for ones that could not fly.

[@jordanfrancis8047]

Dang! I didn't realize he died. I met him in 2017 and he was speaking about those experiences. It was awesome

[@quaffdowngin]

Excellent, sir!

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you

[@jaspr1999]

Growing up near a Naval Air Station we had a running joke about how to shut a pilot up... Just tie their hands. They can't speak unless their hands are moving a mile a minute. Seriously though, Yeager may have had his faults but he was an absolute joy around kids.

[@sirmingusdewiv8325]

Chuck was the man. Full stop.

[@hancock63]

"Hey, Ridley, ya got any Beeman's?"

[@northernmetalworker]

That beard simon, it looks like you're leveled up!

[@johnc.bojemski1757]

PS: Gen.Yeager's NF 104 ultra high atmosphere flight was unscheduled and unapproved by his superiors. He was seeking to break the record recently set by a SOVIET pilot and decided to do it all by himself. He succeeded but was forced to eject when his engine stalled from lack of oxygen and he careened in a "death spiral" back towards the Earth. He survived. Glad you're telling the story!

[@Jtretta]

I loved in the Right Stuff how confused the tower crew were by the situation. "Well, he isn't in our scheduled flights but surely he has clearance! How could Yeager not have clearance?"

[@melangellatc1718]

Seems he failed.....

[@markhamstra1083]

Hollywood nonsense. Yeager’s NF-104 flights were fully authorized, approved and scheduled.

[@wanderinghistorian]

I always thought the scene at the end of the Right Stuff where Yeager flew the Starfighter pure fiction. Interesting to know that much (if not all) of that story was true!

[@jblob5764]

Not sure about other parts of the US but we call them long johns in my area too

[@Xhotic]

Simon if you don’t stawp making half the video an ad! I want more of YOU damn it (: (Edit this video has a short ad but you guys have done some long ads, GIVE ME KNOWLEDGE)

[@Toadaboticus]

A rare late release from Simon and the Crew is always welcome.

[@patrickmorrissey2271]

Chuck Yeager was the ORIGINAL LEGEND.....

[@ssj4gogeta240]

You can learn a lot more from him

[@mikerodrigues2906]

Chuck Yeager ! I love this guys name .

[@TK-OK]

Green monitor reflecting in your glasses was a big distraction. But still great.

[@kieferrush6818]

Yep, Long Johns are still Long Johns here in the states.

[@em1osmurf]

old german farmer joke, if you wanted an F-104 jet, just look in your field. they apparently held a record for the most non-combat wrecked military aircraft ever.

[@thegreatnull6270]

Love this channel

[@loboheeler]

Interesting point about Yeager not being qualified for such a flight in the stratosphere, where his stick-and-rudder skills were not as usable. He likely did not get the main jet engine restarted during the violent downward spiral, and the reaction control rocket thrusters may have not helped once getting back in the lower atmosphere. Some speculation that the plane would have straightened out if he had stayed with it a little longer, but it was falling fast. May be true if it did not completely disintegrate on crashing (retrieving the logbook).

[@ThatBaritoneGuitarGuy]

No-one is STUCK at home. You GET to stay home.

[@holeephuk]

No problems here I'm Melbourne, yesterday 78000 people packed MCG ✌😊

[@dr.OgataSerizawa]

Super spreader event.

[@walterfechter8080]

Chuck = The Right Stuff

[@tecumsehcristero]

Chuck Yeager is the incarnation of Big D energy

[@richjp21]

Did chuck lose control of the X1A trying to beat the US navy This what covered in the Wright stuff. This he able to the nose down so he could recover from thespian.The rateof spin was so fast his Helmet was dented . Mike Adams also had a supersonic flat spin in x15 sadly he couldn't recover and doors

[@SHAWSHANKOFFICIAL]

Can you do Capt. Richard Phillips and the pirate hijacking of the maersk/alabama

[@EllieMaes-Grandad]

There's a movie out there, a good one. Phillips was off work for over a year after the accident, but that fact is in small print right at the end.

[@Namdrac]

Simon! I've been busy and haven't had a chance to watch in awhile. Just wanted to say that your beard is looking especially Legendary today 🤌.

[@sukrpunch]

It's so interesting to see what words Canadian english takes from the UK or the US

[@revcrow7154]

There is a movie called The Starfighters, it was commissioned by the U.S. Air Force to help boost the popularity of the aircraft in the eyes of the brass. It failed obviously

[@kdrapertrucker]

Made a good mst3K episode though.

[@96SN95]

Video starts at 1:49

[@fattdamon1980]

Fantastic

[@davidshanholtz1666]

My father who is now 90 went to high school with Yeager's younger brothers.

[@JohnSmith-cl3jg]

Yes, in America they are long johns.

[@NickCC23]

I believe the Chuck Yeager flight talked about was depicted in the movie "The Right Stuff" (1983)

[@NickCC23]

The movie depicted the controversy of Yeager not being selected to be part of the Mercury 7. Yeager outlived them all!

[@NickCC23]

Confirmed in the video. So quit your typing.

[@binaryglitch64]

Only people who've already made up their minds about Mack Weldon should click this time stamp: 1:45 to save time... if your just wasting time anyway than never mind.

[@prettymiffedbrit]

They are called TRACK SUITS SIMON! 🤣🤣🤣

[@eye4thesky]

What's the rush? I feel the need to watch this at least three times to understand what I just heard.

[@PeterVanBiesen]

Would it be possible to also use metric units for your international audience ? Thanks !

[@JimBob-vb8oz]

Aircraft altitudes are always given in feet. Don’t know why, they just are

[@PeterVanBiesen]

@@JimBob-vb8oz thats true, but altitude for spacecraft are expressed in km, it was difficult to know what the airplane's altitude was in relation to the 'edge of space' (100 km ). Some other youtubers just flash the conversion on screen ...

[@davidwilburn6314]

I recently read an account or two from the early NASA astronauts whose boss was Yeager out west. Yeager had no qualms about NOT recomending his guys enter the NASA space program and wholeheartedly disapproved of any of that space nonsense. Deke Slayton allegedly didn't like Yeager from undisclosed prior conflicts, but Deke had a good bit more pull and was able to cushion his astronaut candidates during their transition from Edwards to the Florida space training facility, aka Cape Canaveral. Luckily, Chuck, in his misguided, uninspired wariness, was not able to prevent the far greater program of going to space from happening.

[@kylarstern7627]

Outstanding video once again Simon, you should get Callum or Danny to write these scripts, its a team that needs bringing to all your channel's. Oh, and Sam too of course!

[@Ass_of_Amalek]

is that some business blaze crap you're talking about? business blaze is the worst. daven is the best writer. smallwood was pretty good too, somewhat surprisingly since his own channel is pretty bad and he's a twat.

[@kylarstern7627]

@@Ass_of_Amalek what have you got against business blaze man?! You didn't actually expect Business content did you??

[@jakeg3126]

Mack Weldon!!

[@amberdamber7]

Would anyone else love to be in a restaurant and hear Simon order "MACH and cheese"? Delicious.

[@pplebite8844]

Oh, yay. Now I have the image of Simon in his long John's in my head.

[@Ass_of_Amalek]

I like his ad plugs for the d&b pouch undies.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

TITLE: Falling from the edge of space. ME: Wait a sec...what edge?Where is that exactly?

[@larsgottlieb]

The danish starfighter pilots described the plane as 'a hat pin mounted with a pair of razor blades' ..

[@eurodoc6343]

I did underwater egress training as part of the army flight medicine course. Keeping you cool enough to follow the series of manuevers necessary to exit a distressed aircraft is hard enough when you know it's coming. So I can't imagine the sheer concentration Yeager must have needed to maintain in order to safely jetison from his aircraft while in an uncontrolled spin at high altitude.

[@ryan49805]

Yes we call them long Johns in America!

[@kevinbarnard3502]

I have always felt with the way CCCP covered things up--and their successors still do-- that Gagarin's title of "First Man in Space" is incomplete. It should read "First Man in Space to Make It Back Alive". Just look at how happy he is in footage of the parades and celebration in Red Square. I don't see the thrill of the crowd and accomplishment, I really see the thrill and excitement of being alive.

[@Beryllahawk]

Today I also learned how to pronounce Lucerne... Good video, though I should really know better than to try and have lunch while watching these sorts of things

[@timengineman2nd714]

Not quite the way I heard how it happened!

[@bradhobbs6196]

Old German joke - how do you get an F-104? Buy a piece of land and wait for one to fall on it.

[@azurewolf3195]

What a boss

[@TestingPyros]

Here is an interesting question: Where did the word "oops" come from?

[@twocvbloke]

The final frontier is a painful place to get to... :P

[@AngelusAnsell]

Simon: *drops socks* "whoops" Me: welp, less than a minute and a half in and you've earned your like. Never change.

[@melangellatc1718]

SO the whole Yeager was the hero test pilot that was never allowed to be an astronaut thing in the movie was BS.....

[@loke6664]

"First man to fly faster then the sound in level flight". That level flight thing is important so the Nazis don't get the record with their Me 262 (who sometimes exploded when passing the sound barrier which made it a risky move). Seriously though, while Chuck Yeager was an awesome dude I don't think diving should disqualify you for being the first to pass the sound barrier.

[@kdrapertrucker]

If your plane explode when you hit supersonic, then you didn't successfully break the sound barrier.

[@loke6664]

@@kdrapertrucker That is true but there are more then a few examples when they didn't explode. I did say "sometimes".

[@jamiephillips5350]

Simon. Your shirt is causing me to seize.

[@phoenixsixxrising]

yeah, not the most camera-friendly shirt choice, and we just expect to see Simon wearing his own face these days! 🤣

[@johnc.bojemski1757]

He DIDN'T "fall from space"! He FLEW! First in the BELL X-1 to be exact where he became the first man to exceeded the sound barrier, aka "MACH 1", and LIVE to tell the tale.

[@caleblarsen5490]

Yes, but in F-104, he ended up in a flat-spin and fell from the edge of space.

[@markhamstra1083]

@@caleblarsen5490 no, he was nowhere near any recognized edge of space - not even halfway there. He was barely into the altitude region where the NF-104’s aerodynamic control surfaces were insufficient to control the aircraft, and that is still very far from space flight.

[@AtheistPilgrim]

78 bucks for a pair of sweatpants? Never.

[@chiefslinginbeef3641]

Yes in the south at least they are called long johns in the United States.

[@AsherrTheRed]

I had the occasion the meet the man himself, he was getting surgery done at Travis AFB back in 2018, a real legend...

[@brianmontgomery9744]

Chuck Yeager was the 1st American in space on April 15th 1962 before Neil Armstrong. A lifer test pilot; Chuck Yeager trained Neil Armstrong and other astronauts. He was expendable and had no higher education. I was born at Edwards AFB on March 21 ,1956. I was 6 years old at the time of his flight, Before Neil Armstrong's flight. My dad was on stand-by working in the USMC Crash Crew and took me to the tarmac to watch. My dad was so excited that another human, without a higher education could accomplish such a feat. My dad kept saying "That's Chuck Yeager!" and "That's the X-15!" over and over again. We are making and seeing history. WOW! My youngest brother was born 7 months later. History became a lie.

[@egyeneskifli7808]

He was nowhere near the edge of space. That is the Kármán line in 100 000 m, not 100 000 ft. 100 000 ft is far-far away from space.

[@markhamstra1083]

Yeager was not an X-15 pilot and never flew anywhere close to 264,000’ feet required for Air Force astronaut wings. The first American in space was Alan Shepard, May 5, 1961.

[@brianmontgomery9744]

@@markhamstra1083 Yes he did fly the X-15. It was a secret he went to the grave with.

[@markhamstra1083]

🙄

[@egyeneskifli7808]

@@brianmontgomery9744 So you have absolutely no proof of it. Last week I saw Elvis. And you must believe it!

[@dx1450]

The F-104 Starfighter had a horrible safety record.

[@Mr2greys]

.... dramatically portrayed in the 1983 movie The Right Stuff Which Simon hasn't seen either :) It's ok I haven't gotten around to it either so I shouldn't talk

[@larryowsowitz2274]

Are we talking about Jaromir Jagr?

[@kingjellybean9795]

i know we call em long johns in north east usa idk about the rest of the noth or the moose ridin syrup suckin canuks up top lol