It was a day...
I don't feel like writing a long expose of the day today, perhaps some details later. But it was a busy and interesting day. I attended events at two organizations I love and support, the Sibley Nature Center and the Commemorative Air Force. An open house for patrons at The Sibley and a seminar at the CAF to hear Col. Joe Kittinger speak. I had dinner with the Colonel at a small affair last night, found him quite personable and didn't want to miss his talk today.
OK, so I'm going to write more than I intended but you'll want to know that Joe was the guy who tested most all of the high altitude ejection systems used to this day by NASA and modern military pilots. To do this he made many trips in balloons over the New Mexico desert in the late 50's and early 60's. No ordinary trips, most were over 75,000 ft. where Joe parachuted out until he hit 18,000 ft. were his main parachute opened. His most historic flight took him to the edge of space at an amazing altitude of 102,800 ft. where Joe bailed out in -100° temperatures. Because of the very limited air at this altitude he hit speeds approaching 700 mph, becoming the only person ever to break the sound barrier without a powered vehicle. His altitude and speed record still stands after 46 years. Use the link above to see the remarkable photo of Joe exiting the balloon on his final and highest jump. Joe joked that his commanders were very proud that he hit his ground targets within a quarter of a mile on most jumps. Joe says that this really didn't matter to him. His personal target was "anywhere in New Mexico, Earth".
As if this wasn't enough of a career, Joe later when on to fly threee combat tours in Vietnam, where on his last tour he shot down a MIG-21 and then sometime later he was shot down himself, landing in the infamous Hanoi Hilton for two years. Later Joe became the first man to solo a balloon across the Atlantic, going from Maine to Italy.
And remind me to relate to you at a later date the details of one of the funniest war stories I've ever heard. The one where Joe loaded up half a years supply of empty Pearl longneck beer bottles, over 10,000 by his count, into the bomb bay of his A-26 bomber, took off at night and flew over North Vietnam. Finding the biggest road he could locate he dropped down to under 100 ft. and opened the bomb doors. Having so much fun with this he did it 4 more times. He has always wondered what the hell the North Vietnamese must have thought, finding about a half mile of broken Pearl longnecks on their road.
And if this wasn't excitement enough for the day, when I arrived home from the CAF, there in my email box were not one, but two personal emails from Peter Noone. For those of younger ages, that is none other than Herman of Herman's Hermits. More on this later.....
I don't feel like writing a long expose of the day today, perhaps some details later. But it was a busy and interesting day. I attended events at two organizations I love and support, the Sibley Nature Center and the Commemorative Air Force. An open house for patrons at The Sibley and a seminar at the CAF to hear Col. Joe Kittinger speak. I had dinner with the Colonel at a small affair last night, found him quite personable and didn't want to miss his talk today.
OK, so I'm going to write more than I intended but you'll want to know that Joe was the guy who tested most all of the high altitude ejection systems used to this day by NASA and modern military pilots. To do this he made many trips in balloons over the New Mexico desert in the late 50's and early 60's. No ordinary trips, most were over 75,000 ft. where Joe parachuted out until he hit 18,000 ft. were his main parachute opened. His most historic flight took him to the edge of space at an amazing altitude of 102,800 ft. where Joe bailed out in -100° temperatures. Because of the very limited air at this altitude he hit speeds approaching 700 mph, becoming the only person ever to break the sound barrier without a powered vehicle. His altitude and speed record still stands after 46 years. Use the link above to see the remarkable photo of Joe exiting the balloon on his final and highest jump. Joe joked that his commanders were very proud that he hit his ground targets within a quarter of a mile on most jumps. Joe says that this really didn't matter to him. His personal target was "anywhere in New Mexico, Earth".
As if this wasn't enough of a career, Joe later when on to fly threee combat tours in Vietnam, where on his last tour he shot down a MIG-21 and then sometime later he was shot down himself, landing in the infamous Hanoi Hilton for two years. Later Joe became the first man to solo a balloon across the Atlantic, going from Maine to Italy.
And remind me to relate to you at a later date the details of one of the funniest war stories I've ever heard. The one where Joe loaded up half a years supply of empty Pearl longneck beer bottles, over 10,000 by his count, into the bomb bay of his A-26 bomber, took off at night and flew over North Vietnam. Finding the biggest road he could locate he dropped down to under 100 ft. and opened the bomb doors. Having so much fun with this he did it 4 more times. He has always wondered what the hell the North Vietnamese must have thought, finding about a half mile of broken Pearl longnecks on their road.
And if this wasn't excitement enough for the day, when I arrived home from the CAF, there in my email box were not one, but two personal emails from Peter Noone. For those of younger ages, that is none other than Herman of Herman's Hermits. More on this later.....
