Kennedy Space Center & Cape Canaveral - (Scottsmoor, FL)

Just an explanation of my titles to these posts. Since we'll be moving around I'm posting the name of the closest town to where we are staying in parentheses after the post title. So in today's title, Kennedy Space Center is not at Scottsmoor, but is located east of Titusville. We are staying near Scottsmoor.

Now on to yesterday. We spent the day at the Kennedy Space Center, also known as KSC by the people who work there. Lots to see at the Space Center and I think we saw it all.

This is the shuttle Explorer.

And this is the main fuel tank and 2 rockets to propel it into space. It is huge.

We decided to take the guided tour, The Cape, Then & Now. I mentioned in a previous post that Dan was stationed at Patrick Air Force Base which is south of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Cape Canaveral is a military base and is NOT part of Kennedy Space Center. Dan punched a time clock for Boeing Company, who had a contract at Cape Canaveral with the military to build Bomarc missiles. Boeing used military personnel from Patrick AFB as support for the project.

Our tour took us to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and to the Air Force Space & Missile Museum. The museum highlights the Air Force as a major participant in America's space program beginning in early 1950 through today.

The museum includes the original blockhouse, with two-foot thick walls, situated 400 feet from twin launch pads. After passing through the outer blast doors, visitors enter the firing rooms furnished with original computers, consoles and launch support equipment. At one time this was state-of-the-art, but of course, is now obsolete. The area around the museum is now called "Rocket Garden" and you can walk among the various rockets that were launched from here.

One wall of computers in the blockhouse. Remember, this was the 1950's and 60's.
I thought this sign was pretty clever.


As Dan looked out one of the windows, he said, "That's a Bomarc out there." Of course, we had to go look at it. Just like the Link Trainer story, I've heard stories of his time at The Cape working on the Bomarc, but never knew what a Bomarc missile looked like. But I soon found out. Sixty-seven Bomarcs were launched from Cape Canaveral between September 10, 1952 and April 16, 1960. Dan worked on the refrigeration portion of this missile.

Our guide pointed out this mural of Alan Shephard on the side of the blockhouse. He was the first American in Space, May 5, 1961. Check out the expression on his face and his eyes. This picture was taken after he had been in the capsule for four hours prior to launch. I can't even imagine what he must have been thinking.



Our tour of Cape Canaveral ended at Launch Complex 34 where Astronauts, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee lost their lives on January 27, 1967 as they were doing a test run on the pad for Apollo 1. From the time the fire broke out until they died, was 17 seconds. 100% oxygen is pumped into the capsule, so when the fire started they didn't have a chance to get out.

Our guide talked about the many rocket and missile launches from the Cape which never made it off the ground and the years of research and training that go into each launch. And the changes that are made based on each previous experience. Dan has also spoken of the various missile launches that were attempted and never made it off the ground, but until you've stood where these men died, you don't really appreciate what has gone into our space program.

On a lighter note, this lighthouse has been on Cape Canaveral since the 1800's. Dan remembers comments from the servicemen wondering if the lighthouse had been launched. But it was still there. Our guide also commented that people still ask when the lighthouse will be launched. :)

And an explanation of Cape Canaveral and Cape Kennedy, in case you wondered. The Kennedy Space Center is owned and operated by NASA. Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was renamed Cape Kennedy after President Kennedy's death. The name change caused such confusion that the Air Force Station name was changed back to Cape Canaveral about 10 years later in the early 70's. People still ask to see Cape Kennedy. :)

We're beginning to get "hitch-itch" so we'll probably be moving on in a couple of days. We'll be starting back toward Illinois, but will take 2-3 weeks to get there, so hopefully the ice and snow will be gone. Stay tuned for where we land next.

We'd like to know what you think of our blog, so feel free to click on "Comment" at the end of each post and give us your opinion and read what others have written.

More later......

More Navy Stuff and the Newest Blue Angel (wannabee) and a Link Trainer

January 19, 2008

Getting ready to leave involves considerable discussion. The guy talking to Dan is Ivan Williams, a friend of Larry and Phyllis. He and his wife, Grace, are spending several months on Dauphin Island.

Kasey in his favorite spot in the motorhome, overseeing the "getting ready to go" process. "Are they ready yet?"

Entering Florida

Since we stopped to visit the Pensacola Naval Air Museum on our way to our next campsite, we arrived after dark at Pine Lake RV Park. We don't like to do this, since it seems to be a setup for parking and hookup problems, but all went well. This is a Passport America park, so our Full Hookup (FHU) rate is $15. All sites are pull through. We have plenty of room for the truck in front of the motorhome.

We have a lifetime membership with Passport America; so after paying $300 two years ago, no more annual fees. We stayed in several PA parks since then and have probably saved about half of the $300 so far. When we start fulltiming, we stay in even more PA parks. Many PA parks are off the beaten path, but that's OK with us as we plan to avoid Interstates as much as possible. We also really like Corps of Engineer parks and with our federal Golden Age Passport, COE fees are half price for us. And, some state parks offer senior citizen rates.

The National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola, Florida is huge. Admission is free, so that fits our budget. There is so much to see; we could have spent a whole day there.

The latest Blue Angel Pilot (wannabee). Notice there are no wings or engines and the rear of the plane is missing. I think we are pretty safe.

We did fly the F-14 Tomcat flight simulator. Since the F-14 has been retired, the museum uses the REAL F-14 flight simulators that the pilots trained on. Dan was the pilot and I was the munitions officer. This was just like sitting in a real F-14. Look out, Top Gun Tom Cruise.

Dan really did pretty well with 3 successful airstrip landings in a row. BUT, we never did land on the aircraft carrier. Guess he's not quite ready for the big leagues yet. But, I must clarify -- the control stick was not as responsive as it would have been when the pilots were learning because people have played with them a lot and they are pretty loose.

Link Trainer

I was especially interested to see this Link Trainer. My aunt, Hazel Rishel, was in the WAC (Women's Army Corps) during World War II. She was stationed in Japan, California, Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland and other places that I've forgotten. My mother always said that Aunt Hazel was a "Link Trainer" and trained pilots to fly. I never knew for sure what that involved, so I'll share what I learned about that.

Aunt Hazel was not actually the Link Trainer, but must have been an instructor or operator teaching cadets to fly by instruments. The Link Trainer was used to teach the pilots to learn how to rely on their instruments. Most of the Link Trainer operators were females, part of the Women Accepted for Voluntary Service (Waves), in the case of naval aviation.

The seat in the Link Trainer is about 3 feet off the floor, but once the pilot was strapped in and the top closed, they felt like they were in a real plane. The trainer was designed by a former organ manufacturer, turned pilot, named Edwin C. Link. The trainer could simulate various conditions that might be encountered in real flight, including wind drift, turbulence and radio static. The trainer could also put the aircraft in various flight orientations, including spins that required the student to right his "airplane". Air nozzles even produced the sound effect of the slipstream.

The goal of the Link Trainer was to force the student pilot to rely on his instruments or follow the instructions given by the operator to get his plane back safely to base. The Link Trainer was very cost effective. In 1945 each hour of flight in a training aircraft cost $10; it cost only 4 cents for an hour in the Link Trainer. But most importantly, no cadet could lose his life in a Link Trainer if he made a mistake, or crash an airplane. HOWEVER, an army Air Forces cadet found himself lost and low on fuel during his simulation. Following standard procedure, he threw open the hood, and bailed out, breaking his ankle when he hit the floor 3 feet below. :)

The Link Trainers used at Pensacola Naval Air Station were placed in storage in 1950 in a rodent infested, leaky hangar. In 1990 they were recovered by the museum. They were dirty and many of the wooden components were rotten. But, when plugged into a wall outlet and connected to a vacuum cleaner to provide power to the bellows, they still worked, except for a couple of instruments.

I hope you enjoyed the story of the Link Trainer. Whenever my mother talked about her sister, she always said with a lot of pride, "Hazel was a Link Trainer during the war. She taught pilots to fly." I never asked her to explain to me what a Link Trainer was and I'm not sure she really understood what Aunt Hazel did.

So as we continue our travels maybe we'll come across something else that provides a link to our past and helps us understand it better.