Was flight research just more fun in the 50's and 60's?
Discussion
I don't think "fun" is the way I would describe. However, it was certainly a very exciting and dangerous time. Post war, the advent of the jet and rocket engine allowed speeds to be achieved many order of magnitude greater than what was possible pre-war. There was therefore a great rush to exploit these new technologies and find out how fast and how high aircraft could go.
The fact that there was intense Cold-War going on meant that governments were willing to supply funding.
The fact that there was intense Cold-War going on meant that governments were willing to supply funding.
Having read Milton O Thompsons' books on his time at NACA and NASA including the X-15 I'd say they did have a lot more fun, some of the stuff they got up to back then would probably get them shut down today!
One of the ground support crew used to check out the abort lakebeds by riding his motorcycle flat out down the marked out strip. One of the X-15 pilots flying the next profile was practicing his landings in a dirtied up F-104 when he saw the bike speeding across the lakebed at 100+ mph.
This was when 100mph was fast by the way, not this new fangled modern 100mph which most bikes do in 2nd gear...
The F-104 pilot retracted his landing gear, tidied up the flaps, wound the F-104 up to 5-600mph and overflew the bike from behind about 20ft off the deck
One of the ground support crew used to check out the abort lakebeds by riding his motorcycle flat out down the marked out strip. One of the X-15 pilots flying the next profile was practicing his landings in a dirtied up F-104 when he saw the bike speeding across the lakebed at 100+ mph.
This was when 100mph was fast by the way, not this new fangled modern 100mph which most bikes do in 2nd gear...
The F-104 pilot retracted his landing gear, tidied up the flaps, wound the F-104 up to 5-600mph and overflew the bike from behind about 20ft off the deck
It must've seemed like a time of limitless possibilities. Back then it would've been easy to believe we'd all be flying around in jetpacks by now and living on the moon. Instead we got... mobile phones that track your period.
Ben Rich's book about his time in the Skunk Works offers a real taste of how much more creative and casual it was back then. By the sounds of it these days you need five hundred auditors to approve your second cup of coffee.
Ben Rich's book about his time in the Skunk Works offers a real taste of how much more creative and casual it was back then. By the sounds of it these days you need five hundred auditors to approve your second cup of coffee.
It's all to do with money. There was a "war" on ( albeit a Cold One) and budgets were pretty generous. Also, there was a lot of new stuff (flight regimes, technology, human sciences etc) that needed to be explored and tamed.
The pressure to expand knowledge of this type rapidly is not anything like as pressing - or necessary. So the steps today are more ordered and incremental. Which of course, to outsiders like us makes everything seem dull and less exciting.
The pressure to expand knowledge of this type rapidly is not anything like as pressing - or necessary. So the steps today are more ordered and incremental. Which of course, to outsiders like us makes everything seem dull and less exciting.
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