Not even a little bit. Yeager couldn't hold Brown's jock.
Hoover carries the day and will forever be the unattainable standard to which men should be measured.
Curiosity compels me to ask what your metrics are?
I guess I have to ask:
How much time have you had with any (all) of them to make assessments regarding a.) flying ability as measured by instrument flying skills, emergency procedures, judgment under stress, formation flying, etc; b.) combat record, test pilot record, diversity of test and combat environments; c.) demonstrated courage and skills when knocked out of a normal environment (i.e walking out of France and into Spain while being hunted by the German army).
You want to place Brown with Yeager as a combat fighter pilot? or Hoover?
You want to claim that either Hoover of Brown have been placed into more high stress test flying environment? What did either Hoover or Brown fly that pushed the envelope of speed and altitude in 'one off' experimental ships with crappy flying qualities?
I've known Yeager a long time, not particularly fond of the kind of person that he has become since Glynnis passed away but I think I can look at his accomplishments in aviation as a pilot and leading edge pioneer objectively. Can you?
