“Gemini Analog Reentry Simulation”, explaining how the simulator works, as well as how the Gemini re-entry profile was flown (yes, flown). Part of what makes this interesting (to me) is that it also shows some analog computers from the time (specifically, the Pace 231R, if that means anything to any of my readers).
And as a bonus, another bit of Gemini history: “Flight Controller Orientation”, a brief explanation of the workings of the flight control system.
And to complete the trilogy, a contemporary NASA documentary about Gemini 8. You may remember Gemini 8 as the one that rolled out of control during docking with Agena (due to a stuck thruster).
It is August. It is hot in Texas. How about some trains dashing through the snow?
One more, but this one is special: it features the little-seen rotary snow plow operating in Donner Pass.
Totally unrelated: at the last SDC, we were talking about various WWII resistance films, such as Jean-Pierre Melville’s “Army of Shadows“. In that vein: “Poland Forever”, from 1944, about the Polish fight against the Nazis.
Last one for today. I thought this was kind of moving.
I feel like this is going to turn some folk’s crank: a large R/C Airwolf in flight. With rocket fire a little past the 2:00 mark.
I have mixed feelings about some of these R/C aircraft videos. On the one hand, I admire the people who can build and fly these massive detailed objects. On the other hand, I keep thinking about the massive amounts of time, effort, and money that could be wiped out in seconds by one hardware failure or human error.
The “Leadership Secrets…” series is still active: I just haven’t found a lot of examples to post recently. But these two videos popped up in my feed. One short, but watch to the end for the point:
(This same point was quoted directly in a Twitter thread I linked to a while back. Thankfully, that’s still up.)
One longer:
It isn’t like Lawrence and I don’t have enough stuff already, but I’m giving some thought to “Band of Brothers”.
Kathleen Duey, children’s book author. I was unfamiliar with her, but she sounds like an interesting person. The NYT obit describes her as not just an author, but a mentor to other authors as well.
I’ve done a lot of plane stuff the past couple of days, so I wanted to break with that theme and do something different.
I haven’t run across any good car stuff yet. There are a lot of train videos coming up: many of them seem to be POV videos of guys hopping freight trains, and they all have the problem of being long.
Likewise, there are a lot of police video channels on the ‘Tube. It seems that various people have figured out that getting hold of body cam footage under local public records laws and posting it on YouTube is a good way to get views. Unfortunately, while I enjoy watching stupid people get theirs (especially stupid cop impersonators who are dumb enough to wear body cameras while impersonating a police officer) many of those also have the disadvantage of being long, long, long.
Here’s one that is about coffee break sized, though, that I’m putting up because it isn’t just Florida Man (“Florida Man, Florida Man…”) but also Florida Lunatic.
Bonus video: I’m being self-indulgent with this one, obviously. But when was the last time I was self-indulgent?
(That was a rhetorical question. Don’t answer that.)
Legendary shooter Jerry Miculek shows off his K-frame .22 revolvers, talks about his friendship with the equally legendary Roy Jinks, and takes some shots at 240 yards with an 85-year old K-22.
(By the way, you can still get Smith and Wesson history letters, but the current price is $100. It’s $90 if you belong to either the Smith and Wesson Historical Foundation or the Smith and Wesson Collector’s Association, or $75 if you belong to both organizations.)
I thought it’d be fun to post something especially for RoadRich, and something that is plane related, but civilian rather than military.
“Flying Fun”. This a Cessna promo video from the 1960s, talking about (and demonstrating) aerobatics…in Cessna airplanes. It is also coffee break sized.
Bonus video #1: while this is a Navy training film, it fits into this theme: “Flight Training Wingovers and Chandelles”, from 1953, demonstrating how to perform those maneuvers.
Bonus video #2: from our friends at the National Film Board of Canada, “Bush Pilot: Reflections on a Canadian Myth”. This is a little longer than coffee break size, but not too much so.
Bonus video #3: okay, one more, for fun. By way of Sporty’s Pilot Shop, a virtual airshow with Patty Wagstaff. This is recent, high quality, and coffee break sized.
I can’t tell if that record still stands: I suspect it was broken by the SR-71, but the NAA’s records site is a bit awkward to use, and they changed the way they classify speed records a while back.
Bonus video: “Twenty Years of Strategic Air Command”, from 1946 to 1966. Silent, but short.
I’ve said before that I consider space stuff to be science. And computer history is science. So how about we cross the streams with another area that I find fascinating?
From the MIT Science Reporter circa 1965, “Computer For Apollo”, about the Apollo Guidance Computer.
I know I’ve mentioned him many times before, but Ken Shirriff has written a lot about the Apollo computers. There’s also this (affiliate link) which is even available in a handy Kindle edition (though it isn’t much of a savings over the physical book). May have to order that next time I get some funny money to play with…
Bonus video: also by way of the MIT Science Reporter, this time around 1961. We were riffing on Insane Clown Posse at one of the recent SDCs, and this may be more clearly science than the AGC.
“Operation Blue Nose”, a co-production of our friends at the Strategic Air Command and the “Space and Information Systems Division” of North American Aviation. This documents a test of the Hound Dog (a fairly early cruise missile) in which a B-52 crew flew for 20+ hours over the North Pole and back…and then launched one of the missiles.
I’m amused by the banter among the crew (and the guy with the Confederate flag on his helmet – try that in today’s military), but I keep wondering how they got some of this footage.
Bonus video: what if we could launch an ICBM from an aircraft in flight, instead of a silo?
“Air Mobile Feasibility Demonstration” answers that question. Yes, the military actually tested shoving ICBMs out of the back of a C-5 and launching them.
“Coming up on a burn, coming up on a burn…” Do you get the feeling this guy went into sportscasting later on in life?