Apollo 11.....50 Years Later

[Colorado Cowboy]

50 years ago I was a young, inexperienced kid just out of college and landed a job at North American Aviation on the Apollo Program. I was working with all these old geeks, most WW2 vets. They had a lot of patience and taught me a lot. Now I am the old geek and most of my mentors are gone. I was very fortunate that I was taught my craft by the best and was able to spend the rest of my career working on programs like the Space Shuttle and B2 Stealth Bomber.

Lots of great memories and feel very lucky to have been started on a career path on a program like Apollo.

 

[ScottR]

Pleased to know you and that is very cool you were able to harness the opportunity!

 

[kidoggy]

sounds like you should be a good one to ask then COLOCOW was the moon landing faked????? and what really goes on at area 51??

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Not faked. I held a top secret security clearance for many years and worked on a number of classified programs, among the B2 Stealth Bomber and YF23 Advanced Technology Fighter. The way security is maintained other than the "need to know", is to compartmentalize everything. I had over 100 engineers working for me organized into small groups. Each group worked on a certain aspect of responsibility and usually didn't know what other groups were doing. What's that got to do with area 51, only strategy of keeping the people who actually know to a very small group(s). I used to fly to certain classified test areas occasionally. Get on a company plane, windows covered, land, taxi into a hanger with no windows, work inside all day and fly home at night. Where was the landing site.....well you know the old saying....If I tell you, I'll have to kill you. LOL

 

[Gr8bawana]

I remember watching it on my parents black & white tv when I was just 7 years old.

 

[JimP]

I watched the landing and walk while sitting in the living room building a Estes model rocket, the Big Bertha model that we then took out the next day and shot off.

I remember going outside while they were on the surface and thinking "wow, there is actually someone walking around up there" I had actually followed the space program one way or another from the Mercury launches all the way through to the Apollo program.

I tip my hat to you CC for being involved in such a fantastic program.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Jim,

I was very fortunate in being in a field of work that I loved, I was never bored. Spent 37 years doing it and worked with some great people.

 

[Steve O]

Thanks for your contribution to the greatest accomplishment of mankind! As an engineer, I am always amazed and impressed at what was done by the Apollo team with good old fashion mental horsepower!

 

[kidoggy]

pity none still exists today.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Thanks for your contribution to the greatest accomplishment of mankind! As an engineer, I am always amazed and impressed at what was done by the Apollo team with good old fashion mental horsepower!

When I started, everyone had a slide rule and one of the old clunky Frieden calculator. I was recently cleaning out some storage boxes and found my slide rule and I couldn't remember how to use it...LOL!

 

[Slugz]

Thanks for flying JANET Airlines CC and all the work you did!! One of the last few planes/airlines to have cheatlines.

 

[JimP]

When I started, everyone had a slide rule and one of the old clunky Frieden calculator. I was recently cleaning out some storage boxes and found my slide rule and I couldn't remember how to use it...LOL!

I remember back in high school where the math teachers wouldn't let you use slide rules and then once in college they even had a course on how to use them. I packed one around for a long time. I even had a short 6" one that I would keep in my shirt pocket.

Then like you they ended up somewhere not to be seen for 30+ years only to pop back up. I can still do a few function on them but a lot leave me scratching my head on how to do it.

 

[mallardsx2]

Very cool!

 

[Winchester]

Thanks for everything you did with the Apollo program CC. What a great experience that must have been and what a wonderful accomplishment for our nation!! I watched it all, and although I was a little too young to participate back then I was definitely in awe of the men who could do such things. Later I learned how to use a slide rule as well, along with an E6B when I began flyting helicopters, which is basically just a circular slide rule with aviation functions.

 

[boiler]

Thanks CC, and in memory of Mr. Armstrong....BOILER-UP!!