Sunday, May 26, 2024

December 4 1963, test pilot Herman “Fish” Salmon shakes Chuck Yeager’s hand, just before Yeager flew 118,860 feet up. "Fish" Salmon. Hahahaha!!

 


11 comments:

  1. At first I thought, "there's no way an F-104's tiny little wings would retain enough lift to get up to 100,000 feet. Pic must show the tail of a U-2". But wait - there's a rocket motor just above the exhaust. It really WAS a -104. What a ride!

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  2. Specially modified F104 Starfighter. The big pipe above the tailcone is a rocket engine. I wonder if this is the flight where he crashed it.
    Al_in_Ottawa

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    1. The plane crashed however he did not…

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    2. NF-104A to be precise.

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  3. That plane almost killed Yeager. He managed to get out when the AC started tumbling, but he had a very long free fall, and he ended up with his suit on fire, with the suit life support feeding him oxygen. It was one dicey flight.

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  4. Chuck Yeager is the GOAT. Yep, this 104 almost killed him.

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    1. Good thing 'almost' only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

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  5. And atomic weapons...

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  6. recall reading that fuselage design of the F-104 was based on the U-2. Kelly Johnson was working on a tight deadline...

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  7. That Yeager - F 104 flight is depicted in the movie “The Right Stuff”…

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  8. Regarding 'Fish' Salmon: the call signs are often funny and/or embarrassing to the pilot. I remember a F-16 guy, 'Donna' Reed. Another F-16 guy 'Rip' was named for a flight where he didn't watch his diet and had some digestive difficulty at altitude.
    ~ Doctor Weasel

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