Yeager was also known to be an exceptional mechanic,
due to his being trained from age 7 up by his father to repair complicated natural gas and pneumatic controls as part the family natural gas drilling business in West Virginia. I remember an interview where he said that early training really helped him stay alive because he could make sure his planes were repaired correctly, and he could “sense” how to improve troublesome mechanisms.

I have met other children who have grown up in oil/gas drilling families and found many of them to be exceptional welders, fabricators and all round “fixers.”