Fuck this racist, sexist asshole. So what he flew a plane really fast and broke the the sound barrier for the first time in level flight. Any other pilot that would have sat in the seat of the X-1 could have done it. One really can't ignore the fact that he is a bonified Ace serving with distinction in WWII and Korea. However, the rest of his career and post retirement involvment with the Air Force was fraught with racist and sexist incidents. From gutting black pilot's careers to pulling what would have been the first black astronaut out of training. He it is also pretty well documented that he refused to have female or black crew chiefs park his p-51 at heritage flights. There is a reason why there are hardly any streets named after him on Air Force bases compared to other officers who were legends in their own time from his generation. He is widey seen as the heroic embarressment that wont go away.
Our old mx superintendent snapped a pretty awesome picture of ol' Chuck walking up on stage with is dick out because Chuck didnt zip his flight suit down.