9 incredible achievements of Chuck Yeager, the legendary Air Force pilot who first broke the sound barrier

There has never been anyone quite like late US Air Force Brig. Gen. (ret.) Chuck Yeager, a truly legendary figure in aviation.

Yeager, who died Tuesday at the age of 97, led a life full of unbelievable heroics and achievements epic enough to warrant having a book, "The Right Stuff," and a movie of the same name made about him.

His wife, Victoria Yeager, tweeted late Tuesday evening that her husband's life was "an incredible life well lived," adding that "America's greatest pilot" and "a legacy of strength, adventure, & patriotism will be remembered forever."

In a statement on Yeager's passing, NASA said his death "is a tremendous loss to our nation."

"Gen. Yeager's pioneering and innovative spirit advanced America's abilities in the sky and set our nation's dreams soaring into the jet age and the space age," the statement from NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine read.

Here are 9 of the amazing things Yeager did in his life.

In 1944, while fighting in World War Two, Yeager became the first in his flight group to make "ace in a day" by shooting down five enemies in a single mission.

That same year, Yeager also scored one of the first air-to-air victories of the war against a German Messerschmitt ME262 jet fighter.

On October 14, 1947, Yeager was the first person to break the sound barrier by flying an X-1 at Mach 1.07. At the time, he had two broken ribs which he sustained from falling off a horse two days before the flight.

After a North Korean pilot defected to South Korea, Yeager tested his MiG-15 and became one of the first American pilots to fly that aircraft.

In 1962, Yeager became the first commandant of the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School, and over in late 1963/early 1964 he set a record for completing five flights in the NASA M2-F1 lifting body.

On June 22, 1969, Yeager was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and became the vice-commander of the Seventeenth Air Force.

In 1986, Yeager drove the Chevrolet Corvette pace car for the 70th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 at the age of 63.

On October 14, 2012, the 65th anniversary of his breaking the sound barrier, Yeager broke it again at the age of 89.

To celebrate his 90th birthday, Yeager went skydiving in 2013.

An earlier version of this post was written by Jeremy Bender. It has since been updated by Ryan Pickrell to include information on Yeager's death.

Read the original article on Business Insider