Patrick Reid: Hi, I’m Patrick with the Autism News NetWORK. I’m here with Nick Carden, and he’s a pilot. Chuck Yeager passed away recently. What does it mean to you as a pilot?

Nick Carden: Where we’re at today with aeronautics, and the understanding that we have to advance planes comes from our pioneers in the industry. Chuck Yeager was that. He was a pioneer. He put himself in the test environment, not knowing what the outcome could be to take that risk, to do it gladly, to advance air and airspace, and the understanding of airspace in the realm of aerodynamics is impressive. And it takes a lot of dedication.

When you think about losing someone as remarkable as Chuck Yeager, he was an icon too. I grew up reading a book about Chuck Yeager, the right stuff. And I remember reading about his experiences and his stories that he would tell. It takes that kind of influence to build a next generation.

It’s a responsibility that he took seriously. It’s a responsibility that he excelled at. He was amazing storyteller. He was also amazing at his…he was just a brilliant man. He’s very, very smart. He just could connect the flight test environment to the risk, to the outcome.

So, it’s sad to lose someone like Chuck Yeager, it also is happy to think about the lasting impressions he’s made on my generation. And hopefully that we can pass that on to the next generation has done. That’s part of my responsibility as a test pilot. We look to him as an icon, but we also look to it as him passing the torch to, to us.

Patrick Reid: I’m Patrick with the Autism News NetWORK, here with Nick Carden, thanks for watching.