General Yeager was not a fan of helicopters. One reason was that most pilots hung out in the dead man’s curve.
Another reason: While in the High Sierras, as a passenger, he was in a terrible helicopter crash. In his own words:
Rocky Mountain Basin Lakes, High Sierras, Nevada
General Chuck Yeager:
“I took General Branch up to Rocky Basin Lakes, about 11,000 feet up in the Sierras. I had fished there a lot but it’s a tough haul on foot and the general arranged with some Army friends to have a Huey chopper drop us off. We stayed a couple of days and it was cold up there, way below freezing. We had skim ice on the lake even at midday. The Army came back for us and we loaded up the chopper with an icebox full of fish and all our gear. There were three guys on board, pilot, co-pilot, and crew chief, when General Branch and I crawled into the Huey. I guess we were overloaded for so high an altitude because I no sooner strapped myself into a jump seat in the middle, when we took off, were up about 80 feet, began shaking to pieces, and came down upside down in the middle of that icy lake. I remember seeing foam, water and stars. The next thing I remember is swimming to shore half frozen to death. The lake was a mass of debris and foam. I saw the ice chest pop to the surface. Next the crew chief, then the co-pilot, then the pilot. General Branch finally popped up, gasped for air, his eyes bulging. He had been trapped inside the helicopter; an air pocket saved him while he freed himself.
“Twig (our nickname for General Branch) looked at me and asked if I was okay. I told him my head was burning. He said, ‘I don’t wonder. I can see your brains for chrissake.’
“I said, ‘What are you talking about?’
“‘Your whole head is laid open and I can see your brains.’
“I said, ‘That can’t be,’ but blood was pouring down my face. I have been scalped blasting through the plexiglass, the skin in my skull cap laid back in 5 places. It would later require 138 sutures to close up that mess.
“He was looking at the gray bone of my skull and he thought it was my brains. The crew chief found a first aid kit floating in the wreckage and bound up my head best he could. They tried to get me to lie down but it bled more so I stood up.
“Twig said it was about 9 miles to Tunnel strip and would head down there. Man, it was cold. The others were hugging to stay warm. I couldn’t lie down so I stayed standing – very cold. I was in good hiking shape, so I convinced the guys to follow: ‘Let’s get the hell outta here. I can make it down to Tunnel.’
“The others lagged behind after a couple miles, so I continued on. I got there just at Twig was finishing his phone call. He turned, dropped the phone and thought he was seeing my ghost. Finally, he blurted: ‘What the hell are you doing here?’
“I replied, ‘I got tired of standing around up there, so I walked out.’
“Edwards flew a Husky H-43 up and I got to the base hospital about 5pm that afternoon.”
c. GCYI