by Nigel Blackwell | Space
I wrote this back in April. With the passing of a man who was both wildly famous and a model of the men they called “the right stuff,” it seems appropriate to remember some of the many things that propelled him to that one small step. In my last post about...
by Nigel Blackwell | Planes
Ok, let’s get this out of the way to start – I’m crap at the guitar. It’s often said that Jimmy Page’s renditions of “Stairway to Heaven” were known to bring people to tears. Well, mine did, too. But while playing the guitar I...
by Nigel Blackwell | Planes
Last weekend I meant to write a post for Memorial Day. Unfortunately, a dose of food poisoning left blog posts way down on my to-do list. However, since I recently reinvented the calendar, I’ve no problem with rearranging a few special days as well. Leaving this...
by Nigel Blackwell | Planes
In my last post about the X-15 we looked at the sad end of Major Michael Adams. This time we are going to look at one of the happier stories from the X-15, Neil Armstrong. Before he signed onto the Apollo program, Neil Armstrong was both a Naval aviator (serving in...
by Nigel Blackwell | Planes
Piloting the X-1 beyond the speed of sound was an accomplishment of skill, bravery and dedication. And when Chuck Yeager pushed passed Mach 1 the newly formed Air Force pushed just as hard to pick up every opportunity for publicity it could. Thing is, the Air Force...