Above: Photographs from my evening with Chuck Yeager

Washington D.C. Tuesday October 9, 2001

I was fortunate enough to be able to take a vacation with my wife Debbie to Washington D.C. in 2001. This was just after the terrible events of September 11 and at the time; much of what we had planned was in some doubt. However fortunes prevailed and we had a wonderful time in the Washington D.C. Earlier in the day, I managed to purchase the last “Desk-top model” of the X-1 at the NASM shop. I’d like to thank the staff of the museum shop for their friendly and helpful manner and the superb packing job they did on the model which allowed it to get home with me to Scotland in one piece. My only regret is I didn't think to take the model with me to the talk for Chuck to sign.

A big thank you goes out to Cindy Siegfried, who was General Yeager's personal assistant for over 16 years. Cindy managed to obtain for us VIP front row seating for General Chuck Yeager’s annual lecture, which was part of the “General Electric Series”. The lecture was held in the Langley IMAX theatre inside the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air & Space Museum. Vice President of the NASM Don Lopez was introducing Chuck to the audience and during the introduction, I stole a peek to my left and sitting just 4 seats away from me was Chuck Yeager.

When Chuck came onto podium to begin his talk, I could hardly believe that this great legend of aviation was only 4 feet away from me. Our seats were front-row centre and therefore we could not have asked for a better vantagepoint.

Chuck talked about his career from fighting during WW2, being selected to fly the worlds first supersonic aircraft; the Bell X-1. During the talk, Chuck went on at length to describe the intricacies of the Nitrogen pressurized gas system of the X-1, to listen to a man of 78 years of age describe all the pressures he was relying on to be in the right place at the right time gave one a feeling that here in front of us was God’s own test pilot. Yeager made light of all the dangers that surrounded the X-1 program, often sending the audience into fits of laughter at what had happened at the time of the program.

Near the end of the talk, members of the audience were permitted to ask General Yeager questions about his career. One fellow asked “General, do you still perform the act of a tree surgeon? Because I could use one right now”. Chuck replied “Where’d you hear about that? Back in the days when we were undergoing squadron training, I had got friendly with Joe & Ma Clifford who had a ranch near Tonopah. Joe had told me that he’d like to get rid of a tree that stood near the roadway to their house. The next day, I umm, kinda buzzed that tree in my P-39 and took the top clean off!". When I landed, the Sergeant in charge of maintenance said to me, “What the hell happened there Yeager?” I replied “I hit a bird” he said to me “Well, that son of a bitch must’ve been sitting in one helluva high nest “. So I got grounded from flying the P-39 for a week, but I was lucky I didn’t get court marshalled.

I myself asked General Yeager what was going through his mind the day he took the tumble in the Bell X-1A . Of you click the link to the left you can hear the actual audio footage from that flight and read the transcript. Chuck went on to explain about the problems Bell had been having with their own test pilot that had thought that the ship was unstable. The pilot, Jean “Skip” Ziegler had not even taken the X-1A through Mach 1 he was so worried by the shockwaves he could see forming on the wings. Chuck took about 15 minutes or so to answer my question, he went into so much detail that I and the audience were in a state of awe. If you have never listened to the audio from that flight, I strongly urge you to do so as it is one of the most impressive recoveries you are ever likely to hear. All the time during Chuck’s explanation, he was looking right at me, and that memory will be with me forever.

I was Chuck Yeager's wingman - For one night only!

After the talk, the audience went down into the museum’s lobby for the usual ceremony of Chuck signing items that the audience had brought along. I had thought I would be lucky if I could just meet Chuck, shake his hand and have a photograph taken. How wrong I was! General Yeager’s partner (they married in 2003) Victoria beckoned me over to the autograph table. I got introduced to Chuck and we started to chat, him asking me how we were enjoying D.C., when did we get into town etc. Just regular chitchat. Victoria asked me if I would like to hand out information flyers to the people who were queuing to have their item signed (Chuck would sign one item per person). I gladly accepted and for the next hour and more, I was Chuck Yeager’s wingman, flying shotgun on his right hand side. The experience was completely awesome and very surreal, I could not believe what was happening, it was all happening so fast that I did not think I had neglected my wife for that length of time. Debbie; my wife took some photographs of Chuck & I, which you can see in the slideshow above, most of which were snapped while we were at the autograph table. In one of the shots, you can see Chuck explaining to me about the wing tanks on his P-51 – he went on to tell me that this model was accurately displaying the 117 gallon tanks as some models just have the 85 gallon tanks. During my time helping General Yeager I was approached by a number of people waiting in line asking me questions about various events during Chuck's life. I am proud to say I answered everyone's questions correctly & accurately. Chuck complimented me and said "you're a walking encyclopaedia on me. Some things you said I'd almost forgotten about"

I'd like to thank General Yeager's former secretary and my dear friend Cindy Siegfried for organising the tickets and front row seating for me. Cindy originally organised seating for Major General Fred J. Ascani (who was a dear friend) and his family. General Ascani was originally to have be seated right next to me and my wife; sadly General Ascani could not attend. Meeting General Yeager was such a wonderful experience and one which I shall never forget. I'd also like to thank Victoria D'Angelo for introducing me to General Yeager who was most generous with his time and attention to me. It was quite simply the best night of my life. No-one could have been nicer or more kind to me. General Yeager signed a $20 bill for me and also presented me with a signed and personalised photograph of himself with the Northrop B-2. I'd like to thank General Yeager, Cindy Siegfried and Victoria D'Angelo for the wonderful experience that they provided me with that evening. It was quite simply the best night of my life. No-one could have been nicer or more kind to me. General Yeager signed a $20 bill for me and also presented me with a signed and personalised photograph of himself with the Northrop B-2.

The following day I revisited the museum and underneath the Bell X-1, I met up my friend from Philadelphia; former Bell Aircraft design engineer Stanley C. Tracz. Stan was responsible for the aileron system on the X-1 and reported to Mark Morkovan. I am so grateful to Stan for taking the time and trouble to come to Washington D.C. especially to meet with me. We had a wonderful time in the museum, a great lunch in "America" in Union Station and also took a trolley-bus tour of DC. It was fantastic to experience Washington DC and the National Air and Space Museum in such a way... A trip my wife and I will never forget!! My friend Stan sadly passed away on 29th March 2010 at the age of 90; one day after my dear friend Fred J. Ascani (who flew the X-1!) passed away at the age of 92.

Meeting the X-1 Team

I've been very fortunate to meet three other men closely associated with the X-1 team that broke the sound barrier and to have long lasting friendship's with two of them (Bob Cardenas & Fred J. Ascani). Brigadier General Robert L "Bob" Cardenas I "met" online through my interest in the X-1 program on an aviation history group on Yahoo. Bob was the B-29 launch plane pilot that launched Chuck Yeager in the Bell X-1 on 14th October 1947; the flight that Chuck broke the sound barrier. I attended the Flight Test Historical Foundation's "Gathering of Eagles" in Lancaster, California on October 24th 2003 and in the morning was fortunate to be able to visit Edwards AFB and the Air Force Flight Test Centre Museum and attended the Open House/Airshow the following day. The museum does a wonderful job of preserving the rich history of Flight Testing at Muroc/Edwards AFB.

I travelled to the event from Aberdeen via London Heathrow, leaving at 2am on the Thursday morning to drive up to Aberdeen. By the time I met my dear friends (who flew in from Gatwick) Chris & Luke Hendry at LAX it was about 2pm on the Thursday afternoon (PST) and I'd been on the go for nigh on 40 hours already! We hired a car and drove up to the Park Plaza Hotel in Lancaster (where the event was being held. After a bite to eat at the nearby "Denny's" we met up in the bar with my friends Mike Quinn & Al Hallonquist to shoot the breeze.

The event was wonderful; I got to meet Bob Cardenas for the first time and I presented him with two paintings; the first was of his B-24 "Sack Artists" which he bailed out of in WWII over Germany. The 2nd painting was a water colour of his F-105 over Okinawa during the Vietnam war. Prior to & at the GOE I met a number of legendary, test pilots from the Golden Age of Flight Test at Edwards AFB including Fitz Fulton, Joe Cotton, Al White, Bob Titus, Bob Little, Jimmy Doolittle III, Bill Dana (X-15), Pete Knight (X-15), JJ Quinn, Hank Beaird & Bill Weaver. I also got to meet Robert A. "Bob" Hoover who was Yeager's back up and high chase pilot in the X-1 program. Bob took the famous photograph of the X-1 with the diamond shockwaves as it flew past him supersonically on 14th October 1947. That photograph was on President Truman's desk the following morning!

Major General Fred J. Ascani

I "met" Major General Fred J. Ascani via him visiting the early incarnation of this very website in early 1999 and leaving a comment in the guestbook. I was flabbergasted as Fred Ascani is an aviation legend who is considered the Father of Flight Test Systems Engineering at Wright-Patterson AFB. He was heavily featured in "Yeager an Autobiography" due to him being General Albert Boyd's Executive Officer and as part of the X-1 pilot selection process. Fred went on to become the first Vice Commander of Edwards AFB and flew many aircraft as a test pilot; including the X-1.  Fred established a new 100km World Closed Course sped record in an F-86E at the National Air Races in Cleveland.

Fred and I went on to have a remarkable friendship; he completely befriended me and shared so much material with me over the years. In turn I thought of him as a Grandfather and commissioned a painting of his F-86H from Toul-Rosieres AFB in France. The painting is based on a photograph taken by none other than Chuck Yeager (Ascani was Commander of the 50th FBW; Yeager was one of his Squadron Commanders). Incredibly generous; when we visited Washington D.C. in 2004 he picked up my wife and I from Huntington station, took us back to his home to show us some of his aviation awards and memorabilia. We went out to lunch at a favourite spot of his called Cedar Knoll on the banks of the Potomac. A few days later his son Bill (and wife Lynn) came along with Fred to take us out to dinner at a lovely restaurant in Washington DC. It was a wonderful evening and like his friendship, is something I'll never forget.

The SETP were unaware of his status until I wrote to Paula Smith of the SETP to enquire why he had not been made an Honorory Fellow. At an SETP meeting in early 2002 Ascani's name was nominated by Scott Crossfield and seconded by Gene Deatrick. General Ascani was named an "Honorary Fellow" by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) at their annual banquet and symposium in Los Angeles on October 25th 2002.

Former NACA/North American test pilot Scott Crossfield presented the SETP award to General Ascani at the Army-Navy country club located just outside of Washington D.C. The presentation and luncheon was organised by retired Air-Force Colonel Gene Deatrick.

We sadly lost Fred on March 28th 2010 when he succumbed to lung cancer. I was distraught and due to my deep admiration for Fred felt it my duty to fly from Scotland over to Washington DC to attend his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. The ceremony was very emotional for me and I was honoured to be accompanied by Colonel Gene Deatrick and Rear Admiral Whitey Feightner to the ceremony.

The day after General Ascani's funeral I attended the "Old Bold Pilots" (DC branch) Luncheon at the Army Navy Country Club at Arlington. I was invited to attend by my dear friend Colonel Gene Deatrick. It was quite surreal to be in the company of so many great aviators; RADM Whitey Feightner, Maj. Gen. Joe Anderson (USMC), Col. Gene Deatrick, Colonel Carl A. Ousley, "Hot Dog" Brown, Air Vice Marshall Paddy Harbinson, Dave North, Wolfgang Samuel & Colonel Andre Gerner. The "war stories" were just tremendous and "Whitey" told the best of all! I'd like to thank Gene Deatrick for his warmth and hospitality and inviting me. After the luncheon we spent some time at his home where I got to meet his lovely wife Zane and see some of his personal memorabilia collection. Sadly Colonel Deatrick passed away on 30th December 2020, he was 96 years old.

Slideshow of images of Fred J. Ascani below.