2020年经济学人 查尔斯·耶格尔将军(1)（在线收听）

Mechanic to hero

从技工到英雄

General Charles (Chuck) Yeager, test pilot and the first to break the sound barrier, died on December 7th, aged 97

第一个突破声障的试飞员查尔斯·耶格尔将军于12月7日逝世，享年97岁

If a flock of grouse flew across his path when he was out hunting, Chuck Yeager knew what would happen. He would get his slingshot, pick up some stones, and let fly. With his 20/10 vision in both eyes, he could see to infinity; in five minutes two or three grouse would be dead, hit square in the head. When challenged to target-shoot at a paper plate nailed to a tree, he could aim to hit the nail. He had practised those skills in the woods of West Virginia until they were second nature.

如果他出去打猎的时候有一群松鸡从他的路上飞过，查克·耶格就知道会发生什么。他会拿起弹弓，捡起一些石头，然后射出去。两只眼睛都有20/10的视力，他能看到无穷大的东西；五分钟后，两三只松鸡就会死了，击中头部。当被要求瞄准钉在树上的纸片时，他可以瞄准钉子。他在西弗吉尼亚的树林里练习这些技巧，直到它们成为第二天性。

In the second world war, flying over France in P-51s, he once more saw his prey from a long way off and stayed up-sun, so the Germans wouldn't spot him. Then he shifted to be down-sun, behind them. Once he picked off five Me109s in a day, getting into a big old hairy dogfight, buzzing, diving, shooting, lots of high-gs, becoming an ace right there. He knew how his plane should behave, how all the hardware worked, how the ejector seat and parachute would save him: knew it as a mechanic, which was his training. Armed with that knowledge, nothing much could surprise him. He was in firm control of what was right around him, and what he couldn't control, such as the enemy, or the outcome, or death, was not worth worrying about. He was too busy.

在第二次世界大战中，他乘坐P-51战机飞越法国上空，又一次从很远的地方看到了猎物，待在天际之间，所以德国人不会发现他。然后他换成了背着太阳，在他们后面。有一次他在一天内干掉了5个ME109，参加一场又老又多毛的斗狗比赛，嗡嗡作响，跳水，射击，还有很多高分，成为一名王牌选手。他知道他的飞机应该如何运行，所有的硬件如何工作，弹射座椅和降落伞将如何拯救他：作为一个机械师，他知道这是他的训练。有了这些知识，他什么都不会感到惊讶。他牢牢控制着他周围的一切，以及他无法控制的东西，比如敌人，或者结局，或者死亡，都不值得担心。他太忙了。