TheList 5532

The List 5531     TGB

To All,

Good Saturday Morning November 28. 

Regards,

Skip

 

Nov. 28

1775—Birthday of the Chaplain Corps after Congress adopts the first "Rules for Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies."

1863—During the Civil War, the screw steam gunboat Chippewa convoys Army transport Monohansett and Mayflower up Skull Creek, SC, on a reconnaissance mission.

1941—USS Enterprise (CV 6) sails from Pearl Harbor for Wake Island to ferry Marine aircraft to the island. By Dec. 5, there are no carriers left at Pearl Harbor.

1944—In a multi-destroyer gun action, USS Saufley (DD 465), USS Waller (DD 466), USS Pringle (DD 477), and USS Renshaw (DD 499) sink the Japanese submarine I-46 in Leyte Gulf. 

 

Today in History

November 28
1520		Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan, having discovered a strait at the tip of South America, enters the Pacific.
1729		Natchez Indians massacre most of the 300 French settlers and soldiers at Fort Rosalie, Louisiana.
1861		The Confederate Congress admits Missouri to the Confederacy, although Missouri has not yet seceded from the Union.
1868		Mt. Etna in Sicily violently erupts.
1872		The Modoc War of 1872-73 begins in northern California when fighting breaks out between Modoc Chief Captain Jack and a cavalry detail led by Captain James Jackson.
1899		The British are victorious over the Boers at Modder River.
1919		Lady Astor is elected the first woman in Parliament.
1925		The forerunner of the Grand Ole Opry, called the WSM Barn Dance, opens in Nashville, Tennessee.
1935		The German Reich declares all men ages 18 to 45 as army reservists.
1937		Spanish leader Francisco Franco blockades the Spanish coast.
1939		The Soviet Union scraps its nonaggression pact with Finland.
1941		The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise departs from Pearl Harbor to deliver F4F Wildcat fighters to Wake Island. This mission saves the carrier from destruction when the Japanese attack.
1943		Sir Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin and Franklin D. Roosevelt meet at Tehran, Iran, to hammer out war aims.
1944		The first shipment of supplies reach Antwerp by convoy, a new route for the Allies.
1948		Dr. Edwin Land's first Polaroid cameras go on sale in Boston.
1950		In Korea, 200,000 Communist troops launch attack on UN forces.
1961		Ernie Davis becomes the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy.
1963		Cape Canaveral is renamed Cape Kennedy.
1971		The Anglican Church ordains the first two women as priests.
1975		East Timor declares independence from Portugal.
1980		Operation Morvarid (Iran-Iraq War); Iranian Navy destroys over 70% of Iraqi Navy.
1984		Republican Robert Dole is elected Senate majority leader.
1989		Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces it will give up its monopoly on political power.
1991		South Ossetia declares independence from Georgia.
2002		Suicide bombers blow up an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya.

 

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November 28

This Day in U S Military History

1942 – The first production Ford bomber, the B-24 Liberator, rolled off the assembly line at Ford's massive Willow Run plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Two years before, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had urged an isolationist America to prepare for its inevitable involvement in the war, declaring that U.S. industry must become "the great arsenal of democracy." Roosevelt established the Office of Production Management (OPM) to organize the war effort, and named a former automotive executive co-director of the OPM. Most Detroit automobile executives opposed the OAW during its first year, and were dubious of the advantages of devoting their entire production to war material. However, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and American citizens mobilized behind the U.S. declaration of war against the Axis powers. Since profit ruled Detroit, the government made Ford and America's other automakers an economic offer they could not refuse. For their participation in the war effort, automakers would be guaranteed profits regardless of production costs, and $11 billion would be allocated to the building of war plants–factories that would be sold to private industry at a substantial discount after the war. In February of 1942, the last Ford automobile rolled off the assembly line for the duration of the war, and soon afterward the Willow Run plant was completed in Michigan. Built specifically for Ford's war production, Willow Run was the largest factory in the world. Using the type of assembly line production that had made Ford an industrial giant, Ford hoped to produce 500 B-24 Liberator bombers a month. After a gradual start, that figure was reached in time for the Allied invasion of Western Europe, and by July of 1944, the Willow Plant was producing one B-24 every hour. By the end of the war, the 43,000 men and women who had worked at Ford's Willow Run plant had produced over 8,500 bombers, which unquestionably had a significant impact on the course of the war.

1954 – Nobel Prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi, the first man to create and control a nuclear chain reaction, and one of the Manhattan Project scientists, dies in Chicago at the age of 53. Fermi was born in Rome on September 1, 1901. He made his career choice of physicist at age 17, and earned his doctorate at the University of Pisa at 21. After studying in Germany under physicist Max Born, famous for his work on quantum mechanics, which would prove vital to Fermi's later work, he returned to Italy to teach mathematics at the University of Florence. By 1926, he had been made a full professor of theoretical physics and gathered around him a group of other young physicists. In 1929, he became the youngest man ever elected to the Royal Academy of Italy. The theoretical became displaced by the practical for Fermi upon learning of England's Sir James Chadwick's discovery of the neutron and the Curies' production of artificial radioactivity. Fermi went to work on producing radioactivity by means of manipulating the speed of neutrons derived from radioactive beryllium. Further similar experimentation with other elements, including uranium 92, produced new radioactive substances; Fermi's colleagues believed he had created a new, "transuranic" element with an atomic number of 93, the result of uranium 92 capturing a neuron while under bombardment, thus increasing its atomic weight. Fermi remained skeptical, despite his fellow physicists' enthusiasm. He became a believer in 1938, when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for "his identification of new radioactive elements." Although travel was restricted for men whose work was deemed vital to national security, Fermi was given permission to go to Sweden to receive his prize. He and his wife, Laura, who was Jewish, never returned; both feared and despised Mussolini's fascist regime. Fermi left Sweden for New York City, Columbia University, specifically, where he recreated many of his experiments with Niels Bohr, the Danish-born physicist, who suggested the possibility of a nuclear chain reaction. Fermi and others saw the possible military applications of such an explosive power, and quickly composed a letter warning President Roosevelt of the perils of a German atomic bomb. The letter was signed and delivered to the president by Albert Einstein on October 11, 1939. The Manhattan Project, the American program to create its own atomic bomb, was the result. It fell to Fermi to produce the first nuclear chain reaction, without which such a bomb was impossible. He created a jury-rigged laboratory, complete with his own "atomic pile," in a squash court in the basement of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago. It was there that Fermi, with other physicists looking on, produced the first controlled chain reaction on December 2, 1942. The nuclear age was born. "The Italian navigator has just landed in the new world," was the coded message sent to a delighted President Roosevelt. The first nuclear device, the creation of the Manhattan Project scientists, was tested on July 16, 1945. It was followed less than a month later by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the war, Fermi, now an American citizen, became a Distinguished Service Professor of Nuclear Studies at the University of Chicago, consulting on the construction of the first large-particle accelerator. He went on to receive the Congressional Medal of Merit and to be elected a foreign member of the Royal Society of London. Among other honors accorded to Fermi: The element number 100, fermium, was named for him. Also, the Enrico Fermi Award, now one of the oldest and most prestigious science and technology awards given by the U.S. government, was created in his honor.

Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

 

O'BRIEN, OLIVER
Rank and organization: Coxswain, U.S. Navy. Born: 1839, Boston, Mass. Accredited to. Massachusetts. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served as coxswain on board the U.S. Sloop John Adams, Sullvan's Island Channel, 28 November 1864. Taking part in the boarding of the blockade runner Beatrice while under heavy enemy fire from Fort Moultrie, O'Brien, who was in charge of one of the boarding launches, carried out his duties with prompt and energetic conduct. This action resulted in the firing of the Beatrice and the capture of a quantity of supplies from her.

BARBER, WILLIAM E.
Rank and organization: Captain U.S. Marine Corps, commanding officer, Company F, 2d Battalion 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Chosin Reservoir area, Korea, 28 November to 2 December 1950. Entered service at: West Liberty, Ky. Born: 30 November 1919, Dehart, Ky. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as commanding officer of Company F in action against enemy aggressor forces. Assigned to defend a 3-mile mountain pass along the division's main supply line and commanding the only route of approach in the march from Yudam-ni to Hagaru-ri, Capt. Barber took position with his battle-weary troops and, before nightfall, had dug in and set up a defense along the frozen, snow-covered hillside. When a force of estimated regimental strength savagely attacked during the night, inflicting heavy casualties and finally surrounding his position following a bitterly fought 7-hour conflict, Capt. Barber, after repulsing the enemy gave assurance that he could hold if supplied by airdrops and requested permission to stand fast when orders were received by radio to fight his way back to a relieving force after 2 reinforcing units had been driven back under fierce resistance in their attempts to reach the isolated troops. Aware that leaving the position would sever contact with the 8,000 marines trapped at Yudam-ni and jeopardize their chances of joining the 3,000 more awaiting their arrival in Hagaru-ri for the continued drive to the sea, he chose to risk loss of his command rather than sacrifice more men if the enemy seized control and forced a renewed battle to regain the position, or abandon his many wounded who were unable to walk. Although severely wounded in the leg in the early morning of the 29th, Capt. Barber continued to maintain personal control, often moving up and down the lines on a stretcher to direct the defense and consistently encouraging and inspiring his men to supreme efforts despite the staggering opposition. Waging desperate battle throughout 5 days and 6 nights of repeated onslaughts launched by the fanatical aggressors, he and his heroic command accounted for approximately 1,000 enemy dead in this epic stand in bitter subzero weather, and when the company was relieved only 82 of his original 220 men were able to walk away from the position so valiantly defended against insuperable odds. His profound faith and courage, great personal valor, and unwavering fortitude were decisive factors in the successful withdrawal of the division from the deathtrap in the Chosin Reservoir sector and reflect the highest credit upon Capt. Barber, his intrepid officers and men, and the U.S. Naval Service.

CAFFERATA, HECTOR A., JR.
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company F, 2d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Korea, 28 November 1950. Entered service at: Dover, N.J. Born: 4 November 1929, New York, N.Y. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a rifleman with Company F, in action against enemy aggressor forces. When all the other members of his fire team became casualties, creating a gap in the lines, during the initial phase of a vicious attack launched by a fanatical enemy of regimental strength against his company's hill position, Pvt. Cafferata waged a lone battle with grenades and rifle fire as the attack gained momentum and the enemy threatened penetration through the gap and endangered the integrity of the entire defensive perimeter. Making a target of himself under the devastating fire from automatic weapons, rifles, grenades, and mortars, he maneuvered up and down the line and delivered accurate and effective fire against the onrushing force, killing 15, wounding many more, and forcing the others to withdraw so that reinforcements could move up and consolidate the position. Again fighting desperately against a renewed onslaught later that same morning when a hostile grenade landed in a shallow entrenchment occupied by wounded marines, Pvt. Cafferata rushed into the gully under heavy fire, seized the deadly missile in his right hand and hurled it free of his comrades before it detonated, severing part of 1 finger and seriously wounding him in the right hand and arm. Courageously ignoring the intense pain, he staunchly fought on until he was struck by a sniper's bullet and forced to submit to evacuation for medical treatment Stouthearted and indomitable, Pvt. Cafferata, by his fortitude, great personal valor, and dauntless perseverance in the face of almost certain death, saved the lives of several of his fellow marines and contributed essentially to the success achieved by his company in maintaining its defensive position against tremendous odds. His extraordinary heroism throughout was in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

KENNEMORE, ROBERT S.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, Company E, 2d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division ( Rein ). Place and date: North of Yudam-ni, Korea, 27 and 28 November 1950. Entered service at: Greenville, S.C. Born: 21 June 1920, Greenville, S.C. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as leader of a machine gun section in Company E, in action against enemy aggressor forces. With the company's defensive perimeter overrun by a numerically superior hostile force during a savage night attack north of Yudam-ni and his platoon commander seriously wounded, S/Sgt. Kennemore unhesitatingly assumed command, quickly reorganized the unit and directed the men in consolidating the position. When an enemy grenade landed in the midst of a machine gun squad, he bravely placed his foot on the missile and, in the face of almost certain death, personally absorbed the full force of the explosion to prevent injury to his fellow marines. By his indomitable courage, outstanding leadership and selfless efforts in behalf of his comrades, S/Sgt. Kennemore was greatly instrumental in driving the enemy from the area and upheld the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

 

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USNA-At-Large:

 

Dirty Little Secrets 4:  Don't Worry – We have your back

 

By Dick Nelson '64

 

On 15 April 1969, about 15 months after North Korea captured USS Pueblo and her crew, a United States Navy Lockheed EC-121M Warning Star of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1) on a reconnaissance mission was shot down by a North Korean MiG-21 aircraft over the Sea of Japan.  The plane was piloted by LCDR James Overstreet (see photo) and crashed 90 nautical miles off the North Korean coast.  All 31 Americans (30 Navy personnel and 1 Marine) on board were killed, which constituted the largest single loss of a U.S. aircrew during the entire Cold War era.

 

The plane was an adaptation of a four-engine, propeller driven Lockheed Super Constellation and was fitted with fuselage radar and other electronics.  Its primary tasks were to act as a long-range patrol, conduct electronic surveillance, and act as an early warning platform.

 

The Nixon administration did not retaliate against North Korea apart from staging a naval demonstration in the Sea of Japan a few days later, which was quickly removed.  It resumed the reconnaissance flights within a week to demonstrate that "it would not be intimidated" by the action, while at the same time avoiding a confrontation.

 

THE UGLY BACK-STORY:

 

When the North Koreans attacked and captured USS Pueblo and her crew in early 1968, President Johnson was severely criticized by his Republican opponent, Richard Nixon.  After Johnson failed to take any action against the North Koreans other than steaming a few ships off its coast for a few days, Nixon made Pueblo a major campaign issue.  He stated repeatedly that if he had been President, North Korea would have been severely punished for its provocation.  As we know, because of his obvious foreign policy fiascos, President Johnson decided not to run for re-election, ceding the Democrat role to Senator Hubert Humphrey.  Nixon won, and took office in January 1969.  Three months later, the shoot-down occurred.  Surely, this time it would be different!

 

When "Deep Sea 129," the EC-121 aircraft from the Navy's VQ-1 squadron launched on its mission, it was already known that there was unusual North Korean fighter activity in the vicinity of Wonsan.  Several land-based radars were tracking Deep Sea 129 for security purposes but did not advise its pilots of the MIG activity which was only minutes away. 

 

Moreover, the date was also the birthday of North Korea's dictator, Kim Il-Sung, a national day of celebration.  During this time, North Korean military commanders were known to take daring actions to impress their leader.

 

As with the Pueblo, no air cover or even Naval support was provided for Deep Sea 129, nor were U.S. fighters scrambled until well after the attack had already occurred. The slow, defenseless aircraft was effectively on its own.

 

Radar operators in Japan and South Korea suddenly noticed the MIGs taking an apparent intercept heading toward Deep Sea 129 and advised its pilots that it might be under attack.  In response, the lumbering aircraft immediately came to a heading back to Japan, but now only about 50 miles separated it from the MIGs, and the MIG-21 is capable of speeds up to Mach 2.0.  In minutes, the MIGs were "merge plot," in close proximity to Deep Sea 129.  Deep Sea 129 disappeared from radar, with the loss of all aboard. 

 

The National Command Authority (including President Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger) were not notified for another hour, with incomplete information and no action recommendations yet provided.  It took days for the White House to officially react with a large Navy task force (again), but---as with the Pueblo crisis---no further action was taken.  Thirty-one Americans had been killed in international airspace, far from North Korea's territory, and there (again) would be no penalty.

 

Nixon's "punitive action" taken against North Korea was to (1) form and then disband the task force; and (2) then to merely RESUME the unarmed reconnaissance flights!  Once again, a fourth-rate nation forced the American giant to back down and display its impotence for all to see.

 

We "leave no one behind," unless it happens to be convenient and expedient at the time for those timid souls who are in positions of authority.

 

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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for November 28, 2020 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY

28 November

1908: John A. "Douglas" McCurdy started the first trials of the seaplane Loon (the June Bug with floats) on Lake Keuka in Hammondsport. This trial was the first attempted water takeoff in America. Although the Loon did not rise off the water, it reached 72 MPH. (24)

1929: Bernt Balchen piloted The Floyd Bennett, a Ford C-4 Trimotor, in the first flight over the South Pole with three crewmen: Cmdr Richard E. Byrd, flight commander and navigator; Harold June, copilot and radioman; and Capt Ashley McKinley (USA), photographer. The aircraft left Little America on McMurdo Sound at 2229 hours on 28 November, reached the Pole at 0855 hours on 29 November, and returned to Little America with a refueling stop in almost 19 hours. (9) (24)

1942: The 7 BG sent nine B-24s on a 2,760-mile round trip from Gaya, India, to bomb Bangkok in the first US AAF attack on Japanese-held Thailand. (21) (24)

1947: The Air Force added strategic aerial mining to SAC's list of mission responsibilities. (1)

1950: KOREAN WAR. The Combat Cargo Command (Provisional) flew its first relief flight to deliver supplies to the 1st Marine Division at the Chosin Reservoir. On this occasion, 16 C-47s dropped 25 tons of ammunition. In all, through 10 December, C-47s and C-119s evacuated over 4,600 wounded and delivered around 2,000 tons of supplies to the Marines. (18) (26) KOREAN WAR. From Yonpo, N. Korea, the 35 FIG flew close air support missions for encircled US forces. For the first time, B-26s bombed within 1,000 yards of the front line. A small communist aircraft bombed Pyongyang Airfield and badly damaged 11 P-51 Mustangs on the ground. (28

1952: KOREAN WAR. At 45-minute intervals, all three medium bomber units hit at Sinuiju and Uiju targets that were defended by nearly 116 heavy guns, 94 of which were radar-controlled, 40 searchlights, and enemy interceptors. Before the attacks, five B-26s flew flak suppression missions. Then 14 B-29s bombed Sinuiju Airfield, 6 struck the Sinuiju locomotive repair facility, 10 hit the Uiju Airfield, and 4 attacked the Uiju communications center. By using electronic countermeasures equipment and chaff, the B-29s executed a generally successful mission. (28)

1958: An Atlas B ICBM completed a full-range flight test for the first time in a 6,000-mile flight from Cape Canaveral down the Atlantic Missile Range to the Ascension Island area. (6)

1964: Mariner IV successfully launched from Cape Kennedy on its 324-million mile fly-by trip to Mars.

1966: Mariner IV continued to operate properly after two years in space. It had flown 1,025,082,830 miles by this date.

1979: CREEK SENTRY. USAFE conducted its first mission to provide AWACS training for US and Allied personnel in Central Europe. (16)

2001: Operation SWIFT FREEDOM. C-17s landed in Afghanistan on an airstrip about 80 miles south of Kandahar to deliver Navy Seabees. The operation introduced U.S. ground forces into Afghanistan. (21)

2006: The ANG established its first MQ-1 Predator unit at March ARB, Calif., by redesignating the 163rd Air Refueling Wing as the 163rd Reconnaissance Wing. (32)

 

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Thanks to Mud

    This is very interesting and amusing.  I can't imagine rotating at 11,999 feet on a 12,000 foot runway.  If you have time, watch the video at the end.

 

S/F,

 

- Mud

 

747 pilot comments about carrying the shuttle..

There is a video at the end which is wonderful to watch.  But also take the time to read the pilot's email.  Humorous and informative.

American ingenuity is something to be proud of.

A quick "trip report" from the pilot of the 747 that flew the shuttle back to Florida after the Hubble repair flight. A humorous and interesting inside look at what it's like to fly two aircraft at once.

Well, it's been 48 hours since I landed the 747 with the shuttle Atlantis on top and I am still buzzing from the experience. I have to say that my whole mind, body and soul went into the professional mode just before engine start in Mississippi, and stayed there, where it all needed to be, until well after the flight...in fact, I am not sure if it is all back to normal as I type this email. The experience was surreal. Seeing that "thing" on top of an already overly huge aircraft boggles my mind. The whole mission from takeoff to engine shutdown was unlike anything I had ever done. It was like a dream... someone else's dream.

We took off from Columbus AFB on their 12,000 foot runway, of which I used 11,999  feet to get the wheels off the ground. We were at 3,500 feet left to go of the runway, throttles full power, nose wheels still hugging the ground, copilot calling out decision speeds, the weight of Atlantis now screaming through m y fingers clinched tightly on the controls, tires heating up to their near maximum temperature from the speed and the weight, and not yet at rotation speed, the speed at which I would be pulling on the controls to get the nose to rise. I just could not wait, and I mean I COULD NOT WAIT, and started pulling early. If I had waited until rotation speed, we would not have rotated enough to get airborne by the end of the runway. So I pulled on the controls early and started our rotation to the takeoff attitude. The wheels finally lifted off as we passed over the stripe marking the end of the runway and my next hurdle (physically) was a line of trees 1,000 feet off the departure end of Runway 16. All I knew was we were flying and so I directed the gear to be retracted and the flaps to be moved from Flaps 20 to Flaps 10 as I pulled even harder on the controls. I must say, those trees were beginning to look a lot like those brushes in the drive through car washes so I pulled even harder yet! I think I saw a bird just fold it's wings and fall out of a tree as if to say "Oh just take me". Okay, we cleared the trees, duh, but it was way too close for my laundry.As we started to actually climb, at only 100 feet per minute, I smelled something that reminded me of touring the Heineken Brewery in Europe ....I said "is that a skunk I smell?" and the veterans of shuttle carrying looked at me and smiled and said "Tires"! I said "TIRES???OURS???" They smiled and shook their heads as if to call their Captain an amateur; okay, at that point I was. The tires were so hot you could smell them in the cockpit. My mind could not get over, from this point on, that this was something I had never experienced.  Where's your mom when you REALLY need her?

The flight down to Florida was an eternity. We cruised at 250 knots indicated, giving us about 315 knots of ground speed at 15,000' The miles didn't click by like I am use to them clicking by in a fighter jet at MACH .94. We were burning fuel at a rate of 40,000 pounds per hour or 130 pounds per mile, or one gallon every length of the fuselage. The vibration in the cockpit was mild, compared to down below and to the rear of the fuselage where it reminded me of that football game I had as a child where you turned it on and the players vibrated around the board. I felt like if I had plastic clips on my boots I could have vibrated to any spot in the fuselage I wanted to go without moving my legs...and the noise was deafening. The 747 flies with its nose 5 degrees up in the air to stay level, and when you bank, it feels like the shuttle is trying to say "hey, let's roll completely over on our back"...not a good thing I kept telling myself. SO I limited my bank angle to 15 degrees and even though a 180 degree course change took a full zip code to complete, it was the safe way to turn this monster.

Airliners and even a flight of two F-16s deviated from their flight plans to catch a glimpse of us along the way. We dodged what was in reality very few clouds and storms, despite what everyone thought, and arrived in Florida with 51,000 pounds of fuel too much to land with. We can't land heavier than 600,000 pounds total weight and so we had to do something with that fuel. I had an idea...let's fly low and slow and show this beast off to all the taxpayers in Florida lucky enough to be outside on that Tuesday afternoon. So at Ormond Beach we let down to 1,000 feet above the ground/water and flew just east of the beach out over the water Then, once we reached the NASA airspace of the Kennedy Space Center , we cut over to the Banana/Indian Rivers and flew down the middle of them to show the people of Titusville , Port St.Johns and Melbourne just what a 747 with a shuttle on it looked like. We stayed at 1,000 feet and since we were dragging our flaps at "Flaps 5", our speed was down to around 190 to 210 knots. We could see traffic stopping in the middle of roads to take a look. We heard later that a Little League Baseball game stop to look and everyone cheered as we became their 7th inning stretch. Oh say can you see...

After reaching Vero Beach , we turned north to follow the coast line back up to the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF). There was not one person laying on the beach...they were all standing and waving!" What a sight" I thought...and figured they were thinking the same thing.  All this time I was bugging the engineers, all three of them, to re-compute our fuel and tell me when it was time to land.They kept saying "Not yet Triple, keep showing this thing off" which was not a bad thing to be doing. However, all this time the thought that the landing, the muscling of this 600,000 pound beast, was getting closer and closer to my reality. I was pumped up! We got back to the SLF and were still 10,000 pounds too heavy to land so I said I was going to do a low approach over the SLF going the opposite direction of landing traffic that day.  So at 300 feet, we flew down the runway, rocking our wings like a whale rolling on its side to say "hello" to the people looking on! One turn out of traffic and back to the runway to land...still 3,000 pounds over gross weight limit. But the engineers agreed that if the landing were smooth, there would be no problem."Oh thanks guys, a little extra pressure is just what I needed!" So we landed at 603,000 pounds and very smoothly if I have to say so myself. The landing was so totally controlled and on speed, that it was fun. There were a few surprises that I dealt with, like the 747 falls like a rock with the orbiter on it if you pull the throttles off at the "normal" point in a landing and secondly, if you thought you could hold the nose off the ground after the mains touch down, think again...IT IS COMING DOWN!!! So I "flew it down" to the ground and saved what I have seen in videos of a nose slap after landing. Bob's video supports this!

Then I turned on my phone after coming to a full stop only to find 50 bazillion emails and phone messages from all of you who were so super to be watching and cheering us on! What a treat, I can't thank y'all enough.  For those who watched, you wondered why we sat there so long. Well, the shuttle had very hazardous chemicals on board and we had to be "sniffed" to determine if any had leaked or were leaking. They checked for Monomethylhydrazine (N2H4 for Charlie Hudson) and nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4). Even though we were "clean", it took way too long for them to tow us in to the mate-demate area. Sorry for those who stuck it out and even waited until we exited the jet.

I am sure I will wake up in the middle of the night here soon, screaming and standing straight up dripping wet with sweat from the realization of what had happened. It was a thrill of a lifetime. Again I want to thank everyone for your interest and support. It felt good to bring Atlantis home in one piece after she had worked so hard getting to the Hubble Space Telescope and back.

And a video, in case you haven't seen the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcI1e4KiDv0

 

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