and an insult to every other test pilot that
I've several times experienced that a very large proportion of the world's test pilots will happily take a day out of their time to hear Eric speak, queue for some time to shake his hand or have a word, and the vast majority consider their own achievements to be rather inferior.
By and large they don't seem to regard Chuck Yeager in the same light, although the late Neil Armstrong would have had similar treatment to EwB.
G