Modeling aircraft famously flown by Chuck Yeager

World War II fighter ace … record-setting test pilot … commanding officer … aviation legend and goodwill ambassador … retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles “Chuck” Yeager is one of a select few Americans truly worthy of the term icon. With a career that encapsulates much of the history of flight in the 20th century, his service to his country and contributions to the field of aeronautics are without parallel.

All the above helps explain his popularity with FineScale Modeler readers. At FSM, we know anything Yeager flew is a popular modeling subject. That’s one of the reasons we were happy to feature Massimo Santarossa’s straight-up build of Airfix’s 1/72 scale P-51D as Glamorous Glen III (May 2016 FSM).

We hope you enjoyed that article. And, if you haven’t seen them before, here are four more FSM feature stories starring Chuck Yeager and his aircraft.

Added detail spurs Hasegawa’s 1/32 scale P-51D Mustang to a full gallop. Pat Hawkey drops the flaps, scribes and rescribes panel lines, and adds a resin cockpit set from Verlinden to model Glamorous Glen III, Yeager’s mount as he finished his run of 13 aerial victories in World War II.

With tips on working with resin and photo-etched parts, Matthew Usher shows how to get the most out of Eduard’s 1/48 scale “ProfiPack” boxing of the Bell X-1 — the rocket-powered aircraft in which Yeager made history as the first pilot to exceed the speed of sound in level flight, reaching Mach 1.06 (700 mph) at 43,000 feet in 1947.

In December 1963, a rocket-assisted Starfighter carried Yeager to the edge of outer space before a malfunction threw the aircraft out of control. Ejecting at 11,000 feet, Yeager suffered 2nd- and 3rd-degree burns and other injuries but escaped with his life. Pat Hawkey employs Cutting Edge’s resin conversion to transform Hasegawa’s 1/48 scale F-104A/C to an NF-104A — and emerges unscathed.

In the Korean War, the sudden appearance of Soviet MiG-15 fighters shocked American fliers. However, when a North Korean defector “donated” his MiG to Kimpo Air Base, test pilots Tom Collins and (you guessed it) Chuck Yeager were summoned to Okinawa to evaluate the mysterious jet. Matthew Usher shows how to improve Tamiya’s 1/48 scale MiG-15bis and give it a gleaming natural-metal finish.