Chuck Yeager Cleared By Court to Sue Utah Gun Safe Company

A federal appeals court says record-setting test pilot Chuck Yeager can sue a Utah gun safe company that named a line of safes after him.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled Tuesday that the 91-year-old can sue Fort Knox Security Products over an oral agreement from the 1980s that allowed the use of his name and picture in exchange for free safes.

The decision says the arrangement ended around 2008, after Yeager’s wife started asking questions about it.

The court dismissed some claims but ruled that Yeager can sue over claims that the company kept using his likeness after the agreement ended. The company disputes that accusation.

Yeager served during World War II and became the first person to break the sound barrier in 1947.