Flight Deck Podcast: Recent Episodes
The Museum of Flight
Listen to all of The Museum of Flight’s best aviation and aerospace stories on the Flight Deck Podcast, a podcast that makes history personal. Episodes released every other Tuesday.
Wendy Lawrence is a retired NASA astronaut and pilot for the United States Navy. She joined host Sean Mobley for a frank and honest conversation about resilience, finding community, and reflecting on her time in the Navy and at NASA through an LGBTQ+ lens.In Season 3 of The Flight Deck, we’re sharing stories of LGBTQ+ people in aerospace.Full shownotes at www.museumofflight.org/podcast
LGBTQ+ people have been part of aviation and space science for centuries. Today’s episode is a bit of a departure from our normal format. Special guest Joalda Morancy rejoins host Sean Mobley to spotlight 10 individuals in aerospace past and present who are part of the LGBTQ+ umbrella.This list of 10 people is not meant to be comprehensive. If you were making your own list, who would you include? Let us know! Contact us via email at podcast at museumofflight dot org. We’d love to hear your opinions!In Season 3 of The Flight Deck, we’re sharing stories of LGBTQ+ people in aerospace.Full shownotes at www.museumofflight.org/podcast
Museums are places where history is presented and interpreted, and presenting and interpreting the stories of LGBTQ+ people in aerospace brings with it unique challenges for the people doing the interpreting. Isaac Fellman and Tony Pankuch, two thinkers in the museum and archives world whose focus is on LGBTQ+ stories, join host Sean Mobley to consider people like Sally Ride, Amelia Earhart, Josephine Baker and others from aviation and space history whose stories have much more to say than what typically gets recorded on museum walls.Full shownotes -> https://tmof.click/3NeI3vU
Dr. Marques Redd and Mikael Owunna are Black, queer Pittsburgh-based multidisciplinary artists who weave indigenous African cosmic stories into their work. A recent film they directed, The Primordial House is an example of this, referencing everything from modern pictures of deep space phenomenon to the connections the Igbo people have had to the Sirius star system since ancient times to the celestial stylings of Black jazz artist Sun Ra. They join host Sean Mobley for a conversation about their work and the ways sky stories and space exploration have shaped African storytelling for millennia.In Season 3 of The Flight Deck, we’re sharing stories of LGBTQ+ people in aerospace.Full shownotes -> https://tmof.click/41eXhHr
Greg Sumner grew up fascinated by airplanes and managed to parlay that love of aviation into a career as a pilot, flying some of the most iconic aircraft out there for United Airlines. He also served as the co-chair of the National Gay Pilots Association, a worldwide organization dedicated to creating community for LGBTQ+ people across all aviation jobs, and fostering a more inclusive industry. He joined me to share some of his favorite pilot stories, to talk about a 9/11 hero who was a member of the National Gay Pilots Association, and explain why he feels diversity and inclusion aren’t just buzzwords, but a matter of life and death.Content note: At about 28:40, Greg shares a derogatory term for a gay man that was used to describe him by another pilot.
The history of the gay men who still make up an unusually large percentage of the flight attendant labor force is not well known. Associate Professor of History at Kansas State University Phil Tiemeyer covered this topic in his book “Plane Queer: Labor, Sexuality, and AIDS in the History of Male Flight Attendants.” While the book covers almost a century of history, Phil sat down for an interview that focused on the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the way two flight gay male attendants with Pacific Northwest connections left their mark on history.Full shownotes at the link: https://tmof.click/47cWLvq
Author, astrophysicist and science communicator Joalda Morancy wrote their young readers book “Aliens: Join the Scientists Searching Space for Extraterrestrial Life” while they were still a college student at the University of Chicago in 2021. They joined our host Sean Mobley for conversation about science, finding their people, and the reasons genuine representation in STEM helps make our own planet a better place for everyone.Full shownotes at https://tmof.click/47lsYk1
There’s little about Dr. Margaret “Mom” Chung’s story that you can call ordinary. From her status as the first known Chinese American woman doctor, to her secret mission to recruit pilots for the American Volunteer Group in World War II, to the ways she intentionally transgressed and presented both masculinity and femininity in her life in order to gain access and acceptance, to the thousands of soldiers and celebrities who gathered at her home, each new chapter in her life adds a fascinating dimension to her. In this episode of the podcast, part of our series on LGBTQ+ stories in aerospace, Dr. Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, Professor of Asian American Studies and Associate Dean of the UC Irvine School of Humanities, sheds some light on this forgotten figure in aviation figure.Note from Sean - The sound for this episode is a bit low quality due to a recording snafu on my part. Our guest sounds great, but I sound like I’m using a tin can for a microphone! The issue has been resolved for future episodes. Sorry about that!Full shownotes at museumofflight.org/podcast
Welcome to Season 3 of The Flight Deck! This season’s theme is LGBTQ+ aerospace history. We’ll be investigating the ways that LGBTQ+ people have been part of aviation and space exploration since the beginning, and also the ways the aerospace industry has shaped the LGBTQ+ community. We’ve got a fantastic lineup of conversations heading your way this season, and it’s starting off with X-15 historian, transgender activist, Air Force veteran and science educator Michelle Evans.Michelle Evans spent most of her Air Force service here in Washington State and was even on base when Mount St. Helens erupted! In this interview, she shares stories from her time in the service, discusses ways her time in the Air Force intersected with her identity as a trans woman, and reflects on how her friendships helped her weather difficult moments on base. Full shownotes and transcript at https://tmof.click/46Iuahl
What a century! We recently visited the National Museum of the Untied States Air Force to get a close-up look at the Century Series aircraft on display there (F-100, F-101, F-102, F-104, F-105, F-106 and F-107). As a delightful bonus to that trip, our Senior Curator Matthew Burchette got to interview Doug Lantry, Curator at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. Not only that, but he did it in one of the NMUSAF's storage hangars normally out-of-bounds for visitors.This episode wraps up Season 2 of The Flight Deck. Stay tuned for Season 3, premiering in a few weeks!Full show notes and transcript -> https://tmof.click/3szMLx8
If you live in a rural area and don’t have access to a hospital, what do you do in a medical emergency? That’s where Life Flight comes in. Life Flight and other organizations like it use helicopters to whisk passengers in hard-to-reach areas over mountains and bodies of water that would take cars hours to travel, in a matter of minutes. On top of that, the helos are equipped with life-saving equipment to keep a patient stable during the trip. Meet a pilot and a nurse for Life Flight in today’s episode to learn more about how aviation provides a vital link between people and the health care they need.Transcript and show notes at the link -> https://tmof.click/3qLsvry
Thousands of satellites are zooming over your head right now, orbiting Earth and beaming down research data, images, phone calls and even Internet access. Did you know that many of those satellites were made within a few miles of The Museum of Flight? Join Geoff Nunn, our Adjunct Curator for Space History, and our Senior Curator Matthew Burchette for a conversation about these small orbiting wonders.Get the full shownotes and transcript --> https://tmof.click/458yGFc
Each year, Seafair brings a spectacular air show to the skies above Seattle. The jewel of the show is the annual performance by the Blue Angels, the United States Navy’s demonstration team. This episode features a conversation with some of the behind-the-scenes crew of the Blues, learning about the many people who support the team to keep the Blues in safe condition.Full show notes ➡️ https://tmof.click/3DM7VKF
Welcome to Season 2 of The Flight Deck! From now on we’ll be presenting podcast episodes in themed seasons, letting us explore stories from aerospace in entirely new ways. This season is all about “Curator on the Loose!” The Museum of Flight’s hit webseries. With almost 4 million views, the show features our Senior Curator Matthew Burchette taking viewers into areas of the aviation industry they normally don’t get to explore. If you’ve seen the webseries, you probably enjoy the epic interviews Matthew’s scored with fascinating folks from across the country. But you probably don’t realize that those interviews are greatly condensed for the tv series. We’ll be sharing extended interviews, or conversations that were cut entirely for time!Did you know that airports have their own specialized fire stations? In today’s episode, Matthew’s taking us to the Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting station here on Boeing Field. Learn the connection between the fire station and the Museum, and how the firefighters prepare to respond to an incident anywhere on the field within seconds.Transcript/Full show notes ➡️ https://blog.museumofflight.org/flightdeck/fire-on-the-airfield
In the conclusion to a two-part series about the mysterious DB Cooper, this episode picks up the story from its cliffhanger ending in Part I, with Museum of Flight Docent Mike Burns sharing the events in the aftermath of the hijacking, the aircraft involved in the search for Cooper, and the theories that persist even to this day about the true identity of the missing criminal.
Full Shownotes -> https://bit.ly/3rK4BLo
This episode comes out on the brink of a major anniversary here in Seattle. 50 years ago tomorrow, November 24, on the eve of Thanksgiving, a man known only as DB Cooper boarded a plane in Portland headed for Seattle. What followed is a tale of danger, extortion, and hundreds of thousands of missing dollars - over a million in today's money. Host Sean Mobley sat down with Museum of Flight docent Mike Burns to get the story.
Full shownotes --> https://bit.ly/3nKGtG7
If you’ve shopped in the Museum’s store, Lynda Eck may have helped you with your purchase. Before she started working here at the Museum, however, Lynda had a 35-year career flying with United on aircraft like the classic 747, first as a stewardess, then as a flight attendant. She joins host Sean Mobley for a conversation about her career chock full of stories from the friendly skies.
Full show notes -> https://bit.ly/3CDY5YX
What’s it like to drift from planet to planet, exploring the universe? In today’s episode of The Flight Deck, you get to do just that. Host Sean Mobley invites you to take a break from the hustle and bustle for a few minutes as he leads you through a game of Alone Among the Stars, a journaling game by Takuma Okada (@noroadhome) where you play an intergalactic explorer chronicling their adventures through a series of writing prompts. Imagination is at the core of science, so remember to practice imagining from time to time! You never know what discovery it can lead to.
Full Show Notes -> https://bit.ly/3pifGC8
Photo Credit: NASA
How does studying a giraffe help make a better space suit?
Dr. Dava Newman is the current Director of the MIT Media Lab and served as a Deputy Administrator of NASA in the mid-2010s. She’s been with MIT’s School of Engineering since 1993, where she ponders questions like how giraffes avoid passing out lifting their little heads up to munch on some trees, and uses these findings to lead a team of innovators creating the MIT BioSuit, which is a completely new approach to a long-standing challenge in aerospace, namely how to keep a human body pressurized at high altitudes or in space, where pressure is absent. A BioSuit is currently on display at The Museum of Flight in our temporary exhibit, “Stranger Than Fiction: The Incredible Science of Aerospace Medicine.” Dr. Newman joins host Sean Mobley to talk about giraffes, and other inspirations from nature, about the BioSuit, and about how imagination and creative thinking dwell at the core of science and engineering.
Full shownotes here: https://bit.ly/3AcmB1x
How do you build a rocket engine without blowing your factory up? Vern Estes took on this assignment as one of his first tasks in the family business of model rocket manufacturing. In today’s podcast episode, he recalls reaching the challenging goal of creating a machine that could quickly, and safely, pack model rocket engines to keep up with the voracious demand from a public eager to launch their own kits into the atmosphere.
Full Shownotes: https://bit.ly/3CpOlRE
Before the Wright Brothers and airplanes, hot air balloons dominated the skies. Today we’re going to explore the origin of the hot air balloon, and we’re going to do it with an old time radio show: the original podcast. First aired September 17, 1946, ‘The Birth of the Balloon’ is a dramatized recreation of what people in 1946 thought the early days of ballooning might have been like based on their understanding of history.
Full shownotes here: https://bit.ly/3jRMdf7
Former NASA Astronaut Wendy Lawrence is a veteran both of the Untied States Navy and four NASA Space Shuttle missions – including the Return to Flight mission following the Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster. In today’s episode, she talks about how she had to stop thinking of Russians as Cold War enemy and start thinking of them as space-bound allies, how she mapped out her future into space as a teen, and the perspective that astronauts gain when they’re out there among the stars.
Full Shownotes Here https://bit.ly/3sDIaG4
Flying fish from the Civil War era. Jetpacks with dolls. Planes in a bottle. As with any museum, only a fraction of The Museum of Flight’s collection is on display. In today’s episode, members of the Museum’s Collections team discuss some of the curios they’ve come across during their work, all of which are features on The Museum of Flight’s Collections Instagram.
Read the full shownotes (and find links to photos of the objects) here: https://bit.ly/3jCgI7v
Picture this: You’re a doctor on an aircraft carrier. You’re awoken and told of an emergency on the lowest decks of the ship. You rush down staircase after staircase and find a sailor, his legs crushed by an elevator that’s stuck. You need to amputate or he’ll likely die. You don’t have time to go get your full kit. All you have on you is a pocketknife. This was Hank Davis’ reality, as he shares in this second part of his conversation with host Sean Mobley. In honor of the new temporary exhibit at The Museum of Flight, Stranger Than Fiction: The Incredible Story of Aerospace Medicine, Hank shares this and other stories from his time aboard the USS Coral Sea.
Read the full shownotes here ---> https://blog.museumofflight.org/flightdeck/stranger-than-fiction-stories-from-a-flight-surgeon-part-ii
We’re celebrating the opening of our new temporary exhibit Stranger Than Fiction: The Incredible Story of Aerospace Medicine by chatting with Hank Davis, a former flight surgeon on the USS Coral Sea. He talks about the grueling medical and aviation training he undertook to practice medicine aboard an aircraft carrier, tending to the needs of the aviators above and the crew below.
https://blog.museumofflight.org/flightdeck/stories-from-a-flight-surgeon-part-1
Become a donor and support The Museum of Flight and The Flight https://pages.museumofflight.org/flight-deck-donate
Check out information about the new temporary exhibit Stranger Than Fiction, including events, programs, and tickets. https://museumofflight.org/Exhibits/Stranger-Than-Fiction
Want more medical podcasts? Check out our episode “Surviving the Final Frontier” for a discussion on human bodies handle the stress of being in outer space. https://blog.museumofflight.org/flightdeck/surviving-the-final-frontier
What does it take to turn real-life war stories into a game? Jason Morningstar, Creative Director of Bully Pulpit Games, released the tabletop roleplaying game Night Witches in 2015 with the goal of connecting players with the history of Soviet women who flew night raids over the Nazis during World War II. In this episode of The Flight Deck, he and host Sean Mobley discuss the true stories and people who inspired the game, as well as the challenges game designers face adapting something as serious as wartime experiences into a fun, compelling, respectful game.
Check out the full show notes: www.museumofflight.org/flightdeck
Teasel Muir-Harmony, Curator of the Apollo program at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, once again joins host Sean Mobley in this conclusion to the two-episode series on the political history of the Apollo program. In this episode, she talks about the classic 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and its place in Apollo political history, how domestic and international perceptions of the Apollo program varied quite significantly, and what role museums have in helping people deconstruct their understandings of history when new research challenges long-held ideas previously accepted as fact. We highly recommend listening to the previous episode before this one.
Read the entire show notes: www.museumofflight.org/flightdeck
Returning guest Teasel Muir-Harmony, Curator of the Apollo program at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, joins host Sean Mobley for a Q&A about her book Operation Moonglow: A Political History of Project Apollo. In this first of a two-part series, Teasel sets the stage and talks about the wider global context within which the US space program operated. We discussed the American politicians who encouraged and shaped panic around Sputnik and the space race, the importance of symbolism in a lot of the images and actions the astronauts took both on the moon and here on Earth, and how racism was a national security risk which the space program was partially designed to counter.
Read the entire show notes: www.museumofflight.org/flightdeck
This episode takes a break from talking aviation and space history to have a conversation with someone making history right now. Bryné Hadnott, a science writer and founder of Space Out STEM. With a career that has ranged from hard space science to historical writing, Bryné is a rising star in the aerospace and science fields. Fortunately for The Museum of Flight, she’s also a mentor for the Michael P. Anderson program, a free education opportunity for students from underserved communities named in honor of Michael P. Anderson, an African-American astronaut who was killed Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. In our conversation, Bryné and I talked about her journey to study the stars through the maze of academia, the science fiction that inspires her, and the importance of community and resilience in the face of adversity. See the full show notes by following this link: www.museumofflight.org/flightdeck
Evoking images of glamorous air travel and high society, the Boeing 314 Clipper is one of the most romanticized aircraft in history. These massive flying boats ferried passengers, mostly for PanAm, to Hawaii and other vacation destinations. Museum of Flight Docent Bill McCutcheon shares the history of the Clipper, its prominent use by the government during World War II, and the legacy of this short-lived but well-remembered aircraft.
Check out the full show notes: www.museumofflight.org/flightdeck
Naval Dentist Tom Davidson yearned to score a spot in the back seat of one of the fighter planes of the flight group he was assigned to. After patient waiting, his opportunity for a joyride finally came. After landing from the exhilarating experience, he started writing a letter to his family detailing the thrill of flight…but he never finished or sent that letter. Tom shares a deeply personal story about his aviation experience in this episode of The Flight Deck, immersing us in the world of someone on the fringes of military aviation during the Vietnam War and explaining the story of his unfinished letter.
Check out the full show notes, including links to the images, at https://bit.ly/3sdfX7Y.
Unbridled wonder. The sort of joy that just seems to radiate out at you. That is the subject of today’s podcast episode, where Museum of Flight President and CEO Matt Hayes takes us back over 100 years to an historic aviation event in Los Angeles, captured in a photo of four women found in our Museum’s digital archives. He talks about the marvels the women may have been witnessing, as this was the first event in the United States where aircraft were really showcased to the masses. Imagine seeing something you’ve not only never seen before but have no mental reference to relate it to. That’s what these four women, and thousands of other spectators who braved a rare LA rain experienced. Take a listen to learn more, and make sure you see the photo for yourself! We could all certainly use a smile.
Check out the full shownotes, including links to the images, at www.museumofflight.org/flightdeck.
An aviation conspiracy dating back 100 years continues to capture the imaginations of New Zealanders. What’s the truth behind this story, involving secret caves, military secrets, and the first Boeing airplane? Host Sean Mobley sat down with Museum of Flight Docent Leslie Czechowski to dig into this curious episode of aerospace history which spans continents and centuries. Full Show Notes: www.museumofflight.org/flightdeck
You may know Alexander Graham Bell for his telephone, but did you know he had a hand in some of the most bizarre, strange-looking experimental aviation designs? Today’s episode is a chat with Museum of Flight Curator Matthew Burchette (of “Curator on the Loose” fame) about these bonkers designs and the adventure of experimentation in the early days of contemporary aviation, when hopeful engineers had bold visions, big ideas, and incorrect understanding of aerodynamics as they put together design after unique design in hopes of being the first to build a successful engine-powered airplane. These designs need to be seen to be believed!
Check out the full show notes, including links to the images, here: https://bit.ly/2JKBxjh
In this final episode of 2020, we welcome author Phil Stamper onto the show for a discussion of adapting space history into fiction for a modern young adult audience, the literary inspirations for his book The Gravity of Us, and the realities LGBTQ+ astronauts faced throughout NASA history from Sally Ride all the way back to the days of Project Mercury.
View full shownotes here: https://blog.museumofflight.org/flightdeck/the-gravity-of-us
What happens at the end of the world? Today’s episode is the finale of the playthrough of “Before There Were Stars,” a storytelling game about creating myths based on constellations. Join a team of science educators from around the world as they follow in the footsteps of the ancient storytellers and look to the stars for inspiration and a way to describe the world around them, bringing their stories to a conclusion at the End of Time. This episode will not make much sense unless you first listen to Part 1 of our Before There Were Stars playthrough, which you can check out at www.museumofflight.org/podcast.
Join a team of storytellers as they look up at the stars to create myths and legends based on what they see. Today’s episode is Part I of a playthrough of the storytelling family game “Before There Were Stars,” featuring science educators from around the world improvising a creation myth based on images seen in an imaginary night sky. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the story. You can keep the podcast and The Museum of Flight going by making a tax-deductible donation. https://pages.museumofflight.org/flight-deck-donate Want to try “Before There Were Stars” yourself? Purchase a copy at The Museum of Flight’s online store. Your purchase will support The Museum of Flight and the game makes a wonderful holiday (or anytime) gift. https://www.museumofflightstore.org/toys/puzzles-games/before-there-were-stars-game.html Learn more about Ricky and Matheatre’s work, including education opportunities and their new podcast, here: https://matheatre.com/ Check out Cassandra’s “We Share the Same Moon” program, weaving together and science and storytelling, here: https://www.wesharethesamemoon.org/ You can find Kyle over here at Digitalis, which is also adapting their planetarium software for online use with the Digitarium Skybox. http://digitaliseducation.com/products-digitarium_skybox Natalie’s work at The Museum of Flight includes using those planetariums to create remote-learning experiences. Learn more about The Museum of Flight’s planetarium shows here, and find more of Natalie’s work here: https://www.museumofflight.org/Education/Explore-programs/portable-universe https://nataliejcopeland.wixsite.com/nataliecopeland
We think of history in terms of grand, sweeping events and often forget that actual humans are at the center of it. Today’s episode reminds us that people drive history, everyday people like you and me who are swept up or have to react to these larger events. The discussion centers around Mike Caputo, a World War II B-24 Navigator, and his daughter Yvonne, the woman who helped him open up about the wartime experiences he’d hidden deep inside. While helping her father document his story in his own voice, she forged a stronger connection with him that she carries even today after he’s passed away.
It’s common to hear a visitor to The Museum of Flight wonder how astronauts go to the bathroom in space. Today is the continuation of a conversation with Museum of Flight staff member Brenda Mandt, who spearheads the tours of the Museum’s NASA Space Shuttle Full Fuselage Trainer, where she talks about modern space toilets on the Space Shuttle and on the ISS. She also talks about what did and didn’t work about toilet and personal care needs when women joined the US space program. As with the previous episode, this is a frank and honest conversation about toilets and what goes in them, so listen to learn more but maybe not while you’re snacking.
“How do astronauts go to the bathroom in space?” This is a question we hear often at the Museum, asked by people young and old from all around the world. Host Sean Mobley enlisted Museum of Flight expert Brenda Mandt, one of the masterminds behind the Museum’s NASA Space Shuttle Full Fuselage Trainer Tours, to investigate how humans carry out this universal body function in space. In this first of two episodes, Brenda shares about the early tests and solutions developed for the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. They were messy and uncomfortable!
Bill Wilson, a Vietnam Veteran and Museum of Flight Docent, features in this episode of The Flight Deck, sharing his story of bailing out of his crashing General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark just a few miles from Hanoi, the capital of the Communist government of Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. Surrounded by hills, jungle, and enemy combatants, Wilson did everything he could to evade capture long enough for a rescue attempt, a situation made more complicated by the constantly changing weather which foiled efforts to extract him.
If you wish to support the podcast and the Museum financially you can do so at www.musemofflight.org/flightdeck.
This episode is one part of a two-episode collection titled “A Tale of Two Aviators,” telling the story of two US aviators who served in Vietnam who were both shot down over the course of their service. You can listen to the other episode in this collection at www.museumofflight.org/flightdeck.
During this unprecedented time, The Museum of Flight has been working hard to bring our collection to you through the help of virtual experiences and online activities for students and families. Explore our all-new Museum of Flight at Home feature which provides 3D tours of our aircraft, educational recourses, podcasts, videos and so much more!
Museum of Flight at Home: https://pages.museumofflight.org/museum-at-home
Museum of Flight Docent Jerry Coy returns to The Flight Deck to share a story of survival behind enemy lines. When Captain Roger Locher’s McDonnell F-4 Phantom was hit by fire from a Vietnamese MiG-21, he safely bailed out…only to realize he was months away by foot from safety, and was deep in Communist territory, making an air rescue extremely dangerous. In order to extract him, the Air Force would have to essentially “pause” the war. Today’s episode details Locher’s saga deep in the northern reaches of Vietnam.
Wrapping up the Collections miniseries, today we’re looking at the oldest artifact in our archives. To find it, we need to go back behind-the-scenes, into the Rare Book Room of the Museum’s Harl V. Brackin library to find an object that predates the US Constitution.
Located in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery, an exhibit space dedicated to modern space exploration, you’ll find the youngest artifact in our collection: An American flag flown to space on the historic Blue Origin New Shepard NS-3 Launch. In today’s episode of the Flight Deck, we’ll take a look at the flag and it’s story, and also learn why stories are at the heart of any museum…and how the stories told in museums have changed over time.
Mike Mullane grew up a child of the space race and realized his dream of space flight as an astronaut for the Space Shuttle program. In today’s interview, which was recorded as part of a Trivia Night program the Museum put on, he takes questions from the audience about his training and experiences in weightlessness. He also helps us answer a few trivia questions about life as an astronaut. Can you get all of the correct answers before he does?
Host Sean Mobley brings the second part of this behind-the-scenes mini-series featuring the “extremes” of the Museum of Flight’s collection. Today we’re staying very close to home on our Museum of Flight campus to look at our Biggest artifact, something so big that moving it took boats, barges, and cranes!
Host Sean Mobley brings us part one of an all-new mini-series featuring The Museum of Flight’s most extreme artifacts. In this series you will uncover the smallest, largest, oldest and youngest objects in our collection. Join us for a journey of wonderment and surprise as we discuss some of our most unique artifacts!
This week we are honored to speak with Museum of Flight docent and Holocaust survivor, Pete Metzelaar. Listen as he describes his first-hand account of the devastating sound of war planes flying over Holland during World War II, and his journey to freedom.
This week’s episode of the Flight Deck Podcast is the first in a series associated with the Museum wide initiative to feature untold stories in honor of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. Today you will hear from Museum docent Reiner Decher who was a young boy in Germany during WWII. Reiner recalls the end of the war through the eyes of a child, escaping Germany with his family through Operation Paperclip. Reiner’s father worked in aviation developing cutting edge technology for Junkers Aircraft and Motorworks. After the war, Russia and the United States wanted to employ the greatest German scientists and engineers, Reiner’s Father was one of those selected.
We dive into part two of our interview with Museum docent and Air Force Colonel Peggy Phillips. Peggy remembers her time in the military flying C-141 cargo airplanes, eventually transitioning to C-17 aircraft in 2001 where she became the first female C-17 squadron commander.
Undoubtedly one of the greatest achievements of man has been stepping foot on the Moon. In 1969, the famous Apollo 11 mission fulfilled this dream. Fast forward to 2013, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos commences an expedition to find the powerful Saturn V F-1 rocket engines that propelled Neil Armstrong into space for the imperative Moon landing. The expedition presented many challenges, one of those being that eight other Apollo missions were said to be located in the same general area off of the coast of Florida.
On this week’s Flight Deck Podcast host Sean Mobely dives deep into conversation with Vince Capone, a deep-sea diver who worked with Nasa to track down pieces from Apollo and various other space missions. Capone takes us through his journey seeking the Apollo 11 F-1 rocket engines in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. With a search area spanning 180 square miles of complete and utter darkness, side scan sonar provided the highest resolution with the most amount of ground coverage for the expedition. Sonar gave the team the means to develop an acoustic image of the sea floor which lead them to the discovery of debris fields. Amidst the debris they unearthed pieces of Apollo 12 and ultimately, components from Apollo 11. Listen to this week’s podcast for a thrilling journey uncovering a needle at the bottom of the sea!
Want to see a real F-1 rocket engine up close? Come see our Apollo exhibit which features the largest display of the F-1 rocket engines from Apollo 12 and 16!
Details: http://museumofflight.org/Apollo
Producer: Sean Mobley Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Social Media Specialist: Tori Hunt
Matthew Burchette joined The Museum of Flight in late 2019 as our Senior Curator, launching a new stage in a career spanning several decades of supporting museums in their quest to tell amazing stories and spark inspiration. In today’s episode of The Flight Deck, host Sean Mobley chats with Matthew about his career briefly before moving into a behind-the-scenes discussion on some of the philosophical underpinnings behind our museum and some of the big questions we wrestle with, questions like: How do we decide what to make an exhibit about? Whose story do we tell? What are we looking for when someone comes in the door wanting to donate an artifact? If you’ve ever been curious about some of the thought processes that go into the day-to-day operations and big-picture visions of a museum, or been curious just how someone becomes a curator at a major museum, this will be an enlightening conversation.
Interested in donating an artifact to The Museum of Flight? Click here to learn more about what we’re looking for and how to contact us to set up an evaluation.
Did Matthew’s comments about the refresh of our World War II exhibit debuting this summer pique your interest? Keep your eyes on our calendar and email list to stay up-to-date with what’s coming up as we commemorate the 75th Anniversary of V-E Day and V-J Day this summer.
Credits Producer: Sean Mobley Webmaster: Layne Benofsky
On the eve of a New Year, join host Sean Mobley on a trip behind-the-scenes on the making of an exhibit at The Museum of Flight. Two unassuming display cases outside Wings Café at the Museum contain one of the most looked-at exhibits on the whole campus; the rotating display put together by the NorthWest Scale Modelers Association.
A combination of the prime location of the exhibit at a popular crossroads within the Museum, the constantly changing display, and a human fascination with shiny small things makes this exhibit consistently popular with visitors. Follow volunteer curator Tim Nelson and Exhibits Graphics Designer Mandy Faber and a cadre of others as they take an exhibit idea from dream to reality. You can check out the model exhibit, “Now Boarding – The Birth of Air Travel,” at the Museum of Flight from now through May 2020.
Interested in models? Join us for the NorthWest Scale Modelers Show all weekend February 15th and 16th. Learn more here.
Credits Producer: Sean Mobley Webmaster: Layne Benofsky
Apollo 12 Astronaut Pete Conrad has a lot to live up to. NASA’s idea of the astronaut image meant that the astronauts needed to conform to specific ideas of the ideal American.
Nancy Conrad, Pete’s wife, talks about her late husband and all the Apollo astronauts who had live the “astronaut image,” at least publicly, and how that impacted their lives and the lives of the people around them. This interview was conducted part of The Museum of Flight’s High School Outreach program, by High School Junior Eleanor L. This internship was designed to help high schoolers hone their interviewing and public speaking skills, and their digital technology competency.
Nancy Conrad participated in the grand re-opening of The Museum of Flight’s Apollo Exhibit this weekend. Learn more about the Conrad Challenge, issued to students between ages 13-18 here: conradchallenge.org
See artifacts from Pete Conrad’s life and space missions in The Museum of Flight’s newly re-opened Apollo Exhibit. Plan your visit at MuseumofFlight.org
Producer: Eleanor L. Producer: Sean Mobley Webmaster: Layne Benofsky
Conspiracy theories are unavoidable when your Museum deals with topics in science, but this week’s guest, Tony Gondola, outreach coordinator for the New Mexico Museum of Space History, has some good advice on how to debunk these unsound ideas. Gondola also explains how the people who formulate conspiracies profit from those who fall for them. In dealing with Moon landing science, Gondola also has experience with other theories. “Right now, flat Earth stuff is everywhere,” he says. “All claims of hoaxsters are easy to debunk because they usually don’t go too deep into the science.” Conspiracy theories have become increasingly popular these past few years because common objections to the Moon landing stem from a distrust of authority, the government, and science. Gondola describes why it’s so important to counter these ideas. “We can’t deny this great historical event,” he says. What the astronauts did on the Moon does, in fact, include some science, although science was not the primary objective. The Apollo 11 astronauts left behind experiments like a laser reflector that still functions to this day. Gondola gets questions every day that are not necessarily accusatory but definitely uninformed, and he suggests that the best way to counter conspiracy theories not by flat out telling someone they’re wrong, but instead gently leading them to think about the science. And by all means, do not refer people to YouTube! “YouTube is a big part of the problem,” Gondola says. Content creators promoting conspiracy theories stand to gain from book deals, video views, and subscribers. Ultimately, Gondola argues, conspiracy theories happen when people believe what they experience from limited human perception and gain validation from outside sources; but, by using science as a way to move beyond limited perceptions, people can conduct simple experiments and research that reveal scientific truths.
Follow in the footsteps of the Apollo 11 astronauts when our APOLLO exhibit re-opens in November!
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Sean Mobley Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
After the Apollo 11 astronauts landed on the Moon, they embarked on an equally fascinating journey: a global goodwill press tour in Air Force One. Dr. Teasel Muir-Harmony explains the importance of the tour and how the astronauts’ lives changed post-Moon landing.
Dr. Teasel Muir-Harmony, author of Apollo to the Moon, an examination of 50 fascinating artifacts from the Apollo 11 mission, discusses how the global good will tour that the astronauts took aboard VC 137 B (otherwise known as Boeing 707 Air Force One) played a significant role in the United States’ foreign relations strategies at the time. After meeting the Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the USS Hornet, President Nixon delivered a speech in Guam that outlined what came to be known as the Nixon Doctrine: an approach to foreign policy that highlighted his hopes and expectations for the conflict in Vietnam. Harmony notes that “Nixon used the lunar landing as a lesson for the higher ideals of peace and brotherhood.” The Apollo 11 astronauts traveled in Air Force One to cities in South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa chosen for geopolitical reasons. The tour was taxing and impacted the astronauts’ person lives in major ways. Michael Collins felt inspired to take on a role in the State Department, while Buzz Aldrin’s relationship with his wife became strained. You can learn more about the lesser known stories behind the Apollo 11 mission by checking out Harmony’s book!
Want to learn more about the Apollo 11 mission? Check out our Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission exhibit, presented in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution, celebrates that historic flight.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Sean Mobley Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
First Korean astronaut SoYeon Yi shares her memories of going to space and the harrowing return to Earth after 11 days in the International Space Station.
Before listening to part 4 of Soyeon Yi’s story, be sure to listen to Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 !
After years of studying and training, SoYeon Yi finally traveled to space for the very first time on April 8, 2008 along with astronauts Peggy Whitson and Yuri Malenchenko, both of whom had already completed space missions. A trip to space has a way of bonding people, and SoYeon Yi says that she remains good friends with Whitson and Malenchenko to this day and keeps in touch with them. SoYeon Yi’s excitement about being in space continued even after the 2-day journey on the Soyuz to the International Space Station. She wasn’t, however, too keen about all the cameras and media buzz when the Soyuz finally docked with the ISS: “We were all so tired. My hair was crazy messy. I was throwing up every ten minutes and all the vomit bags were in my side pocket.” Despite the fatigue, SoYeon Yi smiled and waved to the cameras, and continued to do so for the next 11 days they spent on the ISS, where she completed 18 experiments and was featured in TV and radio interviews. “Time flies so fast,” SoYeon says. “11 days is not that long.” Although she loved being in space, SoYeon did miss gravity and life on Earth. The trio’s return to Earth was marred by an mechanical error upon re-entry: a part of the habitation module was still connected to the descent module, causing a loss of balance. The capsule fell to Earth upside down, with the heat shield in a rotated position. This caused heat to build up: “If we had been in the capsule for a few more seconds, it would have burned up.” They ended up landing in a rural area of Kazakhstan, but search and rescue were nowhere to be found. Soyeon Yi and Malenchenko released themselves from the capsule, but Whitson was precariously hanging upside inside and they had no way of cutting her down. A nomadic shepherd witnessed the capsule crash land and ran over to check out the scene—he was the one who helped cut Whitson down. Search and rescue eventually reached the scene about 40 minutes later.
Want to learn more about what it’s like to travel in space? Check out the exhibits in our Charles Simonyi Space Gallery!
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Sean Mobley Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Buzz Aldrin, the second human to set foot on the Moon, recalls the Apollo 11 mission and how one felt tip pen helped the astronauts successfully return to Earth.
Today we honor the 50th anniversary of the first human footsteps on the Moon! This day is especially significant because the Smithsonian Institute has chosen The Museum of Flight as the venue for hosting the command module Columbia, the spacecraft that Apollo 11 astronauts took to the Moon and back, and it’s the only piece of the spaceship that made it back to Earth. When Buzz Aldrin visited the Museum for our annual gala, he was interviewed by Neil Armstrong’s sons—Rick and Mark—and refers to Armstrong as “your dad” throughout the interview. Aldrin gives some insights about the famous image of him exiting the LEM to begin extravehicular activity on the lunar surface. “I didn’t see him [Neil] having much trouble moving around,” Aldrin’s says, recalling seeing Neil Armstrong walking on the Moon before him. Seeing Neil moving easily across the Moon’s surface gave Buzz a false sense of confidence. “I thought 1/6 of gravity, that’s nothing!” But Buzz slipped coming down the ladder, just moments after that famous photo was taken. Buzz also discusses fears that scientists had about contingency lunar samples bursting into flames upon being introduced to the oxygen pressurized cabin—a fear that turned out to be unfounded. But Buzz’s favorite moment of the Moon mission was when his very own felt tip pen helped repair a broken circuit for the engine arm: a device necessary for the astronauts to depart the Moon’s surface. Buzz knew that a spokesperson wanted to push news of the Fisher ballpoint pen’s role during the mission because it was an officially approved NASA pen; but, Buzz told him: “Just don’t go spreading the message that your pen saved Apollo 11!”
Want to see Buzz Aldrin’s pen and the broken circuit for yourself? Check out our exhibition Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission to see rare artifacts from the Apollo 11 mission!
Don’t miss the other stops on our Destination Moon podcrawl: GeekWire podcast The Truth from Radiotopia KNKX Sound Effect Stuff You Missed in History Class
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Sean Mobley Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Thank you to Alaska Airlines for sponsoring this episode of the Flight Deck Podcast.
Jerrie Cobb and the women behind the Women in Space program unsuccessfully lobbied Congress in 1962 to include women in astronaut training, but they still led the way for women’s inclusion in the aerospace industry.
With the Women in Space Program being cancelled, the major players behind it—Jerrie Cobb, Jackie Cochran, and Janie Hart (the wife of a Michigan Senator)—met with Congress subcommittees in 1962 to get the program up and running. NASA astronauts also participated in these subcommittee hearings and John Glenn is quoted as saying that women participating in astronaut training would “ruin the social order.” Jackie Cochran wasn’t a huge help either during these hearings. She said that including women in astronaut training would slow down the program because women trainees would drop out due to marriage and family responsibilities. Janie Hart’s friend, Liz Carpenter—executive secretary to Vice President Johnson—managed to get a memo on the VP’s desk urging him to consider women for the space program. Johnson quickly shut down further discussions about the topic and filed the memo. In 1963 the Soviet Union sent cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova into space, so the United States was already behind. Despite not being able to open up the space program to women, their meetings with Congress weren’t a failure. They succeeded in pushing a national conversation about women in aerospace, and the women involved went on to make history. The shy, quiet Jerrie Cobb went on to fly humanitarian missions in South America, delivering food and supplies to impoverished communities along the Amazon Basin, and she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1981 for her efforts.
Want to learn more about the history of spaceflight? Check out our exhibition Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission to see how NASA landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Thank you to Alaska Airlines for sponsoring this episode of the Flight Deck Podcast.
When the United States was lagging behind the Soviet Union in the race to space, the Soviet space agency announced plans to send women into space, which spurred American astronaut trainers to consider what might happen if they did the same.
In the late 1950s, Dr. Randy Lovelace and General Donald Flickinger of the Air Force heard about how the Soviet Union was planning to send women cosmonauts into space. Their reasons were practical rather than political: women tended to handle stress better, weigh less, consume less oxygen and use less energy than men, making them great test subjects for spaceflight. Lovelace and Flickinger wanted to implement a similar testing program in the U.S., but NASA was already committed to using male military test pilots for astronaut testing. Undeterred, Lovelace and Flickinger found an ally in Jerrie Cobb, an accomplished woman aviator who earned her commercial license when she was just 18. When Lovelace and Flickinger told her about the idea of including women in an astronaut testing program, Cobb couldn’t say yes fast enough! Lovelace and Flickinger broke off from NASA and formed the Women in Space Program (WISP) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with the help of another historic woman aviator, Jackie Cochran, the co-founder of the WWII WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) program. There, 13 out of 19 women candidates passed the same astronaut training requirements as the Mercury 7 astronauts, proving that women had the same physical, mental and psychological capabilities as men.
Want to learn more about the history of spaceflight? Check out our exhibition Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission to see how NASA landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Our interview with NASA astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, part of our series titled Failure is Not an Option, asks crowd sourced questions to reveal what life is like in space and how Dottie, as a woman astronaut, continues to inspire young women to pursue careers in STEM.
Show Notes: As the first installment of our “Failure Is Not An Option” summer series—an ode to people who have pushed the boundaries of space exploration, our interview with Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger includes questions that our listeners shared with us on social media and revealing answers from Dottie about astronaut bands, sweating in space, and how she deals with the pressure of being a role model to young girls who dream of a future in space. Dottie’s first memorable encounter with failure was being last to finish a 600-yard dash in middle school, an event that pushed her to become better at sports as she grew older. Dottie acknowledges that “failure is one of the best ways to learn in life,” and her failure at that race led her to becoming a great runner in high school and college—both of which were important to her success as an astronaut. When asked about how often astronauts argue about politics in space, Dottie is happy to share that on a space mission “there’s no room to have fights over things you have no control over.” Dottie continues to advocate for greater inclusion of women in STEM, and believes that seeing positive representations of women and people of color in space is key to helping people see themselves as astronauts, engineers, and the next space explorers.
Thank you to Alaska Airlines for sponsoring this episode of the Flight Deck Podcast.
Want to learn more about the history of space exploration? Check out our exhibition Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission to see how NASA landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Librarians for the King County Library System share their picks for the best aviation, space, and flight-related stories to read this summer. Check out their recommendations for your aerospace summer reading list!
This week we sit down with Britta Barrett and Emily Caulkins from the King County Library System—which is the top library in the nation for circulating eBooks and downloads—to discuss their top picks for summer reading that include aviation and space-related themes. Britta and Emily also host their own podcast for the library titled Desk Set, which can be accessed on Spotify, Stitcher, and the KCLS website. Emily’s excitement for these recommendations stems from the notion that the early days of flight are a natural fit for great stories, “with its inherent risk, human ingenuity, and bravery.” Her first pick is West with the Night by Beryl Markham, a bush pilot from South Africa who was the first to fly east to west across the Atlantic in 1936. She crash-landed in New Foundland, but her flight still made history. The graphic novel Night Witches features detail, visceral illustrations that tell the story of Soviet women pilots during WWII who performed risky aerial maneuvers during combat missions against German troops. And the book Code Name Verity focuses on British women pilots during WWII who help the RAF, and its vivid prose captures “the exhilaration of the feeling of flying” as the characters fly in early model bi-planes. Britta who dreams of being the first librarian in space, recommends some space-themed titles, like Tilly Walden’s On a Sunbeam, which explores how two girls who meet in an outer-space boarding school cope with love and loss. The book Laika tells the story of the first dog to go to space and the nationalistic fervor that led to his significant role in the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States. Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti shows how what makes someone different, unique, or even an outcast can help them survive. You can read all of these this summer for King County Library System’s “A Universe of Reading” summer reading program!
Check out King County Library system here and the Desk Set podcast to get excited for your summer of aerospace reading!
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Web Master: Laynebenofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
The Museum is hosting its own performance of the Moon Landing musical to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, and our very own Natalie Copeland explains why you need to see it.
This summer we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 with a performance of Moon Landing, a musical written by Stephen Edwards. One of our very own Museum educators, Natalie Copeland, has taken on the task of cutting down the musical to fit a shorter timespan (75 minutes) so it can be seen by wider audiences at the Museum in July. Copeland discusses her own experiences blending art and science, starting with her experience as a Museum educator. As an educator, she enjoys putting on planetarium shows that take young kids on journeys throughout the solar system. Outside the Museum, Natalie writes and directs musicals that bring together art and science, like her 2018 Rovers musical, which tells the story of anthropomorphized rovers on Mars who host a camp that teaches future rovers how to navigate life on the Red Planet. Natalie’s passion for all things space and theater led her to cast her own version of the Moon Landing, which depicts the stories of the people involved in Apollo 11—the astronauts, the families of the astronauts, the people in mission control—and reveals how emotionally psychologically demanding the mission really was. “The music is haunting, and the score is gorgeous,” says Natalie, and she adds that the musical truly captures the spirit of the people involved in the Moon landing.
Come see Moon Landing this July, and be sure to catch Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission, an exhibition that features the spacecraft that took the first humans to the Moon’s surface.
See how Natalie Copeland brings art and science together here, and listen to the Rovers soundtrack here.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Air traffic control has come a long way since the early days of aviation in the 1930s, and our very own Helen Parker Wall takes us back to the technologies that evolved to create the current state of safe flying.
Air traffic controller Helen Parker Wall discusses the technologies and incidents that prompted change in navigation and communication between the ground and the pilot to keep the skies and the runways safe. Before WWII, pilots and air traffic controllers relied on the triangulation of radio transmissions to track flights, and in 1934 the Department of Commerce set up en route facilities, the first one being in Newark, New Jersey. This was all before the development of radar, so there was nothing for pilots or controllers to look at to track flights. Arrival times were determined the old-fashioned way: mental math that calculated a plane’s speed, distance, and altitude. It wasn’t until a 1931 crash that killed all its passengers, including famous Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, that regulatory agencies like the FAA were established to ensure the safety of all air travelers, pilots, and air traffic controllers. When radars and advanced communications tools became popular after WWII, air traffic safety improved and air travel increased. Despite those early chaotic days of air traffic control, Wall says that she wouldn’t mind going back to the 1920s to be an air traffic controller: “I just love being around planes, no matter what decade they’re in or what technology is around.”
Learn more about air traffic safety by checking out the Safety by Design exhibits in our Great Gallery and Aviation Pavillion!
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Web Master: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
First Korean astronaut SoYeon Yi tells that story of determination that took her from backup astronaut to primary, securing her place in aerospace history.
SoYeon Yi spent a year in the Russian cosmonaut program, half of which was classroom-based and half of which was focused on work in the simulators. SoYeon recalls that the classroom portion focused on aircraft systems, safety, mechanics, and theory along with Russian language training. This classroom portion was followed by time in the simulator, when SoYeon really began to appreciate life as a backup astronaut. It meant that she could avoid the spotlight, unlike her male colleague and primary candidate, who was under constant media scrutiny. She also accepted her place within the context of Korean society: “I knew I would always be a backup. In male-dominated Korean culture, that would just be the reality.” Her self-awareness as a woman and minority—from her experiences as a working-class child navigating upper-class society, and as a woman in a mechanical engineering program—actually helped her advance to the primary position. SoYeon excelled in collaboration and listening, remained humble, and always learned from her mistakes. Over time, her Russian supervisors noticed these qualities, along with her work ethic (did we mention she was also writing and defending her PhD dissertation at the same time as her astronaut training?) and recommended to the Korean government that SoYeon take the primary position. After some discussions amongst the Russians and Koreans, it was decided the SoYeon replace her male colleague as the primary astronaut, and the rest was history.
Want to learn more about how astronauts train and live in space? Check out our Space Gallery and visit our newest exhibition “Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission!”
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Web Master: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Airships are lighter than air craft whose history goes back to mid-nineteenth century France and comes to a screeching halt after World War Two. Learn more about what makes air ships such a unique part of aviation history in our latest Flight Deck Podcast episode!
Joshua Carver, a student in our Museum Apprentice Program who’s about to begin his freshman year at Embry-Riddle University, created a fascinating presentation about airships as part of his apprenticeship at the Museum. During this time, he learned all about dirigibles, explosions, and how an aircraft carrier could fly back in 1931. Joshua traces airship history back to France in the mid-nineteenth century: “Balloons really were the posterchildren of France . . . they were the first country use balloons in combat.” Soon enough, balloons appeared on Civil War battlefields in the United States and were reborn in Germany as Zeppelins, created by none other than Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. By the time World War One erupted, the Germans developed their Zeppelins to bomb and surveil the UK. And while the Zeppelins weren’t the most accurate war machines, they did fulfill the goal of psychological warfare: the British never knew where the zeppelins would be or where the bombs would drop. But airships in the US never quite succeeded militarily, as seen in the example of the USS Akron and the USS Macon.
Learn more about the Museum Apprentice Program to get involved in fun Museum projects! And don’t forget to explore more amazing World War One artifacts via our Digital Collections.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Web Master: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Bessie Coleman is the world’s first black woman pilot, and her great-niece Gigi Coleman carries on the pilot’s legacy by performing her life story. Learn more about how Bessie Coleman’s bravery and persistence helped her make aviation history.
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Gigi Coleman, great-niece of the world’s first African American and Native American pilot Bessie Coleman, carries on her great-aunt’s legacy. Bessie was the tenth of thirteen children and the sister of Gigi’s grandmother. As Gigi was growing up, she didn’t fully grasp the historical importance of her great-aunt Bessie, but Gigi does recall local reporters interviewing her grandmother about Bessie. Despite a disappointing start to her aviation career, which included getting rejected from a number of aviation schools in the Chicago area, Bessie set off for France, where she hoped she would have better luck learning to fly. Bessie learned French and eventually earned a flight certification that’s recognized around the world. Gigi comments that Bessie’s achievement was remarkable at that time, “because at that time no one thought people of color had the intellect to operate an aircraft, let alone a woman of color!” Back in the states, Bessie applied her flight skills to barnstorming shows, which helped her earn money that would go towards establishing her own flight school. Today, Gigi’s own nonprofit inspires students of color to pursue aviation careers, a goal that Bessie surely would have supported.
Learn more about Gigi’s amazing work and support her upcoming event in April!
Check out our Calendar for info on Museum programs about the history of flight, and get a Membership so you can enjoy these events by visiting the Museum for free!
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Sean Mobley Web Master: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
: Jerry Coy, who was featured in our episode about the 747, isn’t just an experienced commercial airline pilot—he’s also a military veteran, and his experiences during Vietnam warrant their very own episode. Coy tells us about the time his pilot duties took him outside his usual routine and placed him in charge of a complicated rescue mission. One night Coy gets a call from a staff sergeant to support an operation by the Green Berets. “I always carry a bag of hand grenades in my plane,” says Coy, and explains that the staff sergeant instructed him to fly over a particular location to break the Green Beret’s contact with the Northern Vietnamese Army. After he was almost shot down by an NVA mortar, Coy directed the Green Berets to head east as he continued throwing grenades from his cockpit. Eventually, the Green Berets reached a secure location where they met with the USAF Green Hornet helicopters that lifted them out of the conflict zone. The Green Berets were so grateful for Coy’s assistance, they nominated him for the Silver Star.
Want to hear more great stories from pilots? Check out our Digital Archives Oral Histories, which are made possible through the generous support of Michael and Mary Kay Hallman.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Sean Mobley Web Master: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Today, Air Traffic Control towers loom over airports, bringing order and safety to a huge network of airplanes crossing the globe. But what was it like to fly in the earliest days of aviation, before radios or signal towers? Retired FAA Air Traffic Controller Helen Parke-Wall shares stories from the beginnings of ATC.
If you’ve hiked the prairies of the Midwest or the backcountry of the Southwestern United States, you may have stumbled across a massive, concrete arrow embedded into the ground. No, this wasn’t a relic of some long-forgotten civilization. It was one of several early attempts to help pilots find their way through the perilous skies of early aviation history. Museum of Flight Docent and retired FAA Executive/Air Traffic Controller Helen Parke-Wall sat down with us to talk about the origins of the Federal Aviation Administration.
See some of the early tools for aviation navigation and organization yourself in The Museum of Flight’s Red Barn and Great Gallery exhibits. Plan your visit at http://museumofflight.org/. Check out Airplane Geeks Podcast episode 539, featuring Museum of Flight Docent/Boeing 747 first flight test team member Thomas Gray and The Flight Deck host Sean Mobley here: http://www.airplanegeeks.com/2019/02/13/539-boeing-747-first-flight/. Thanks Airplane Geeks for the chance to chat!
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Sean Mobley Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
*NOTE: During this episode, you may hear the interviewer and interviewee refer to “the 400” or “dash 100.” These numbers refer to variants of the 747. Just like apples have different varieties—fuji, honeycrisp, MacIntosh, etc—planes have their own variations, too!
When Boeing released the 747, it changed the aviation industry forever. The story of the 747’s development, however, must be told alongside the stories of the pilots who flew it. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 747’s first flight, we feature an oral history with pilot Jerry Coy, who flew the 747 during its heyday. Coy has piloted planes for 40 years, including 330 combat missions, but his commercial career is just as fascinating. This week he shares the story of how difficult it was for pilots to be chosen to fly the Queen of the Skies, because it was all based on seniority. And once a pilot was chosen to fly, they were in charge of transporting hundreds of passengers all around the globe. Coy flew from Seattle to Tokyo, and he recalls a scary instance in which an engine failed. Coy’s stories are an ideal way to celebrate the amazing history of this incredible plane!
Listen to more fascinating oral histories by visiting our digital archives page, and then take a moment to learn more about the very first 747 ever flown.
The Oral History Program is made possible by the generous support of Michael and Mary Kay Hallman.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Sean Mobley Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Sometimes the story of how we acquired an artifact is just as interesting as the artifact itself. Such is the case with the Soviet-built MiG-21 that stands in our Great Gallery. Bruce Florsheim, one of our docents and an active player in getting the MiG to Seattle, explains the historical significance of the MiG and how it ended up in our Museum. “In its time, the MiG 21 became the most produced supersonic jet in aviation history and the most produced combat aircraft since WWII,” says Florsheim. The Soviets loved it because it was rugged—it could easily take off from unprepared fields—and inexpensive to produce: you didn’t have to be a mechanical genius to build it or maintain it. Back in 1994, the MiG caught the eye of Boeing VP Jim Blue as he was touring an aircraft factory in the Czech Republic. Blue saw that a large group of them were covered in a tarp, and he asked his host what the plans were for the jets. “They will be scrapped,” said the Czech guide, and Blue, then a Museum trustee, knew that he had to acquire one. At first the Czechs refused to sell the plane, but Blue persisted, and eventually the plane was disassembled and embarked on a months-long adventure across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal, and up to Seattle, where it was rebuilt and displayed in the Museum. The two Czech mechanics who were flown over to help rebuild it experienced an adventure of their own when Blue introduced them to American-style supermarkets.
Learn more about the MiG 21 here and then come see it in person in our Vietnam Divided: War Above Southeast Asia exhibit.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Sean Mobley Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
What do you get when a WWII American Fighter Ace has the same name as a Hollywood icon and doesn’t get rid of anything? The Lt. Col. James C Stewart Collection! Amy Heidrick, Associate Director of Collections, delves into the archives of the American Fighter Aces Association to reveal the stories that these objects tell about being a fighter ace during WWII. One of our most robust collections belongs to Lt. Col. James C. Stewart, or Jimmy Stewart as he was known. He happened to be serving in the European theater at the same time as the Hollywood actor Jimmy Stewart, which led to some interesting items being included in his collection, like misdirected fan mail. According to Heidrick, “Jimmy Stewart didn’t get rid of anything, it seems,” which leaves us with a robust collection of uniforms, survival gear, and photographs. The survival kit, which hasn’t been opened in 70 years, contains some interesting items. “There’s a fishing kit,” says Heidrick. “If you had to bail out, perhaps over the ocean, and you were in a raft, you would have a fishing kit. There’s different kinds of lures, different kinds of fish hooks, lines, anything you would need to potentially fish in the middle of the ocean.” Some more notable items include food items with directions not to leave the wrapper laying around after use; loose lips sink ships, after all.
Looking to learn more about the American Fighter Aces? Check out our J. Elroy McCaw Personal Courage Wing and our Digital Archives Oral History Collection.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Sean Mobley Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
The clock was ticking in 1968, and the race to the Moon was on. The Apollo 8 mission, which came about by accident as NASA was finalizing tests on weight and vehicle performance, sent a crew to the Moon to see if humans could fly safely on the Saturn V rocket. They did, and one of the most amazing takeaways of the mission—aside from the safe return of the astronauts—was the famous Earthrise photo taken on Christmas Eve and the unexpected lesson it taught us: our place in the Universe. NASA historian Dr. Bill Barry says that the “barren, lifeless terrain of the Moon, set against a black sky with nothing out there, and this one little blue and white dot that’s our planet, impacted our perspective of Earth, humanity, and our shared future.” That photo, along with the astronauts reading from the first book of Genesis, is a testament to how space exploration inspires people to do their best, be creative, and work together in a positive way.
Want to learn more about how the APOLLO missions changed the world? Stop by our APOLLO exhibit, which closes on January 2, 2019, and then mark your calendars for the opening of Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission in April 2019, which features the original Command Module that landed on the Moon.
Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission is an exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. This traveling exhibit comes to our Museum in 2019.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Please Note: During his retelling, American fighter ace Besby F. Holmes uses an ethnic slur to describe his attackers. This oral history is presented unedited as a historical artifact of one veteran's experience.
In American fighter ace Besby F. Holmes’ oral history, recorded in the early 90’s, he recalls the scramble to get to a plane during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The night before, he had a few too many rum drinks at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel while on a blind date, and he was nursing a hangover. He planned to go to the beach afterwards “to let the sun bake the poison out of [his] body.” But his plans were waylaid when the attack broke out. In the midst of the commotion in Honolulu, with military trucks roaring up and down the streets, Holmes commandeered a civilian’s red Studebaker and sped to Wheeler Base where he saw 70 P-40s already burning. He was first directed to fly a biplane that hadn’t been moved in a month, and told the sergeant, “Thank you very much, Sergeant, but I don’t want to fly that thing!” After arriving at another base location, a line chief gave him a helmet, a parachute, a .45-caliber pistol and ordered him into a P-36 Peashooter. He flew for 30 minutes and never saw a Japanese plane in the air. His hangover headache went away, too.
Want to check our more oral histories from American Fighter Aces? Check out our new digital database!
The American Fighter Aces Association also offers scholarships. Learn more here.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Photo Credit: National Museum of the United States Air Force
Commercial pilot Kevin Gordon returns in this episode to answer listener questions about all things aviation: what it takes to become a pilot, the difference between Navy and Air Force pilots, and explains the infamous “blue juice” of plane bathrooms. Gordon explains the two routes to becoming a pilot—military and civilian—and shares his own story of flight, from getting a private pilot’s license to getting a helicopter license. Gordon also acknowledges some of the funnier moments he’s had teaching Navy pilots how to fly Cessnas, and the unique landing styles he’s had to help them correct.
If you are interested in becoming a pilot, check out our Aeronautical Science Pathway program!
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Web Master: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Before there were flight attendants, there were stewardesses, and in this AMA episode we talk to Mary Hoy, who served as a stewardess aboard United Airlines from 1967-1973, who answers questions from our social media followers. Hoy describes the joys and struggles of being a stewardess during this Golden Age of Aviation and recalls experiencing rapid changes in aviation technology as she worked aboard a variety of planes from the Douglas DC-6 to the Boeing 747. And Hoy doesn’t shy away from detailing the sexism she encountered as well, like the time airlines started hiring men as flight attendants and she overheard the pilot declare, “I don’t know why a man would stoop so low to do a woman’s work.”
Want to check out one of the planes that Hoy served aboard? Come aboard the 747 next time you’re at the Museum. https://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/boeing-747-121
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Justin Braegelmann/Keny Dutton Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Eighty years ago today, Orson Welles’ 1938 broadcast ‘War of the Worlds’ used cutting-edge audio technology to convince listeners that planet Earth was under attack by Martians. What was intended as a Halloween special actually caused listeners all over the country some real distress, and we talk to three experts—Ben Blacker, co-creator of the Thrilling Adventure Hour podcast and creator of the comic series Hex Wives; Valerie Stafford, President of the Concrete Chamber of Commerce; and CJ Smith, an educator at The Museum of Flight—to uncover how and why this broadcast so effectively brought to life a Martian invasion. Blacker observes that the episode’s found-footage, documentary style delivery “was a precursor to so much of the audio that’s popular now.” The global anxiety that preceded WWII provided a tense backdrop for War of the Worlds, and according to C.J. Smith, the fear of a Martian invasion could be traced back to a misunderstanding over Martian geography. But it was a strange set of social and meteorological circumstances that spun the small town of Concrete, WA into a panic.
Want to learn more about the pop culture inspirations for science and space exploration? Check out our Charles Simonyi Space Gallery and our APOLLO exhibit. And be sure to join us on November 2-3 for Space Expo 2018, where you can meet members of the Mars Society and ask them about their theories of life on the Red Planet.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Web Master: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Sometime between her third and fourth year of her PhD program, Yi’s research ground to a halt. Her experiments were failing, she wasn’t acquiring good data, and even her friends were asking whether or not she could, or should, continue. Amidst the confusion about her future in science, Yi heard that the Korean government was looking for astronaut candidates. “I’m an easily distracted person, so I turn my attention to whatever is new and exciting,” Yi says. Being an astronaut seemed like a new, shiny distraction from her research, so Yi immediately applied (along with over 30,000 other hopefuls). After a battery of medical and psychological tests, she made it to the last two finalists, primarily because of the physical strength that precludes her from being seen as a “traditional” Korean beauty: thin body, pale skin, passive demeanor. So, after struggling through grad school and paying bills with her part-time gig as a wedding singer, Yi was ready to take on a new challenge: becoming Korea’s first (woman) astronaut.
Love hearing great stories directly from the people who experienced aerospace history? Check out our Oral History archives or contact our Curator to get started.
Host: Sean Mobley Interviewer: Geoff Nunn Producer: Keny Dutton Web Master: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
96-year-old Betty Dybbro was fortunate enough to spend one year as a WASP (Women Air Force Service Pilot) during World War Two, and in order to tell her story, we enlisted Katherine K. and Nithi B., two members of Amelia’s Aero Club who participate in aviation and aerospace activities at the Museum. They ask Betty about growing up in rural Indiana, her very first flight, and what she felt when she first heard the news about Pearl Harbor. Betty loved her time as a WASP and calls it “the most pleasant year of my life,” (even though she wasn’t a fan of all the rules WASPs had to follow). And as an experienced woman pilot, Betty gave the Amelia’s girls some advice on becoming a pilot: “Just go for it. Fly as much as you can, in different airplanes, too.”
If you want to learn more about WASPs, stop by our Personal Courage Wing to see photos and artifacts of the brave women who flew during WWII.
And if you know a middle school girl who loves all things STEM and aviation, check out Amelia’s Aero Club and attend the next event.
Host: Sean Mobley Interviewers: Katherine K. and Nithi B. Producer: Keny Dutton Web Master: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Did you have trouble figuring out your major when you were in college? If so, you already have one thing in common with the world’s first Korean astronaut, Soyeon Yi. After toying with the idea of becoming an industrial engineer—she always loved designing buildings and drawing—Soyeon Yi realized it wasn’t the right fit for her; then, through a process of elimination, she decided to pursue mechanical engineering all the way through graduate school. Soyeon Yi, who also happens to be a volunteer at the Museum, explains that throughout most of her life she didn’t like encountering difficulties, but realized she couldn’t continue the same pattern: “I stopped avoiding hurdles.” Eventually she became the only woman in her cohort accepted into the graduate program for mechanical engineering—an experience she didn’t yet realize would prepare her for a history-making stint as an astronaut.
Want to hear more personal stories about aerospace history? Check out our oral history archives on our Digital Collections page.
Producer: Keny Dutton Host: Sean Mobley Oral History Interviewer: Geoff Nunn Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Did you know that 80% of the world’s blindness can be cured, and 90% of those cases occur in low to middle income countries? The Orbis Flying Eye Hospital works to decrease preventable and curable incidents of blindness with its mobile operating room and teaching facility.
The Orbis Flying Eye Hospital started in 1982 with a DC-8 plane that flew to locations around the globe that are in desperate need of basic eye treatment for preventable and curable conditions. Now, Orbis boasts an MD-10 outfitted with an operation room that can be set up and sterilized in 6-7 hours, and that can serve as a teaching hospital for doctors to learn procedures that they can implement in their own communities.
This week we interview Dr. Hunter Cherwek, who joined Orbis as soon as he completed medical school and hasn’t looked back since. He calls the plane “an engineering masterpiece both in healthcare and training and teaching.” And at the end of each day, Cherwek knows that his work with Orbis is making a difference.
Did you know that the Museum offers special tactile tours for individuals with vision impairments? Get more information here.
Producer: Keny Dutton Host: Sean Mobley Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
As SpaceX and Blue Origin continue to make history by building rockets that will take future space vacationers to the Moon or Mars, the Museum is thinking about how to preserve the history of these private companies. Back in the 1960’s and up until now, it was easy for historians to access public records at NASA that documented the space race; and that’s not the case now. According to our Adjunct Curator for Space History, Geoff Nunn, “corporate archives are becoming ever more important, but private records don’t automatically make their way through the public record trail like NASA documents did.” Geoff and other space historians now have to ask themselves, “How do you archive a Slack thread?” and “What happens when YouTube goes under and we no longer have videos of launches?”
Did you know there’s a conference dedicated to answering these exact questions? Get more info at http://toboldlypreserve.space/
If you want to see the origins of the space race (and check out publicly accessibly NASA documents and photos!) stop by our APOLLO exhibit! And stay tuned for more great space experiences at the Museum with our upcoming Destination Moon exhibit!
Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission is an exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. This traveling exhibit comes to our Museum in 2019.
Producer: Sean Mobley Host: Sean Mobley Web Master: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
The American Fighter Aces Association preserves the memories of pilots who have sacrificed bravely for their country, and the Museum is home to its collection of artifacts and stories, including the oral histories of numerous pilots we’ve interviewed. In this edition of our Personal Courage series, we sit down with digitization specialist Ali Lane to listen to highlights from oral histories of three pilots—Gregory A. Daymond, Harold E. Comstock, and Louis William (Bill) Chick, Jr. We learn how a visit to Bavaria in 1939 inspired Gregory Daymond to join the RAF before the United States entered WWII, and we hear Bill Chick recount an awkward meeting with an enemy pilot years after the war, who told him: “Sir, I think you shot me down!”
Browse all of our American Fighter Aces oral histories on our archives website, and learn more about how AFAA works to preserve the legacies of pilots who sacrificed it all to protect our country:
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Sean Mobley Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Episode 13: Meet and R2-D2 Builder
Bob Jacobson, R2-D2 builder extraordinaire, claims that he wasn’t always into engineering, but the process of building his droid forced him to learn some basic and advanced techniques. Our host caught up with Jacobson at the Museum’s R2-D2 Builder’s Expo, held every year in the spring. Jacobson and his R2-D2 were game for all of our questions, like what inspired him to pursue R2-D2 building and what he really thinks of BB-8. You’ll also be surprised to hear about the impact Jacobson’s R2-D2 have on the kids who meet them at expos. But you won’t be surprised at how Jacobson describes his favorite droid: “R2-D2 is funny, smart, loyal, and kids love him. He’s a golden retriever made of metal!”
Don’t miss our next R2-D2 Builders event! Check our Calendar page in March 2019 to see when you can meet your favorite droid; and, if you love Star Wars, you’ll love exploring our Space Gallery!
http://www.museumofflight.org/Plan-Your-Visit/Calendar-of-Events http://www.museumofflight.org/explore-the-museum/museum-galleries/space-gallery
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Episode 12: She Opened Up the Skies
A faceless mannequin wearing a 1920s’ style dress is posed next to our Boeing model 40B, but it’s not just there for show. The mannequin represents Jane Eads, the world’s very first transcontinental commercial airline passenger. In 1927, when she was just a 21-year old journalist, Eads rode in a 40B on a mail route from Chicago to San Francisco. Back then, the journey took 22 hours. Her vivid descriptions about her experience in the air led to more people gaining an interest in flight at a time when airplanes were still being perfected. The plane she flew in was not equipped with pressurization or climate controls, so Jane and the pilot were directly exposed to altitude and temperature changes during the flight. This week, we talk to Docent Zandria Hopper, who explains how Eads’ trip helped “solidify aviation’s potential to do what the railroads had already been doing to guarantee people could get from point A to point B.”
See the Boeing model 40B, and the Jane Eads mannequin, up close next time you’re in our Great Gallery. While you’re there, brush up on the first 100 years of flight by checking out the Wright flyer, the Lockheed Model 10E Electra, and the Blackbird M/D-21 spyplane! http://www.museumofflight.org/explore-the-museum/museum-galleries/great-gallery
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Sean Mobley Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Back in 1977, when Bob Alexander was just a young engineer, he was chosen to work on a challenging new project: the Hubble space telescope. During his ten years on the project, Bob—now a Museum volunteer—advanced to the level of supervisor and recalls that with all the experienced engineers working alongside him, designing the Hubble was a pretty smooth operation. This week, we’ve tapped Akshay Murthy, a student at Tesla STEM High School in Bellevue, to do the interview because of his passion for aerospace (thanks Akshay!). Akshay asks Bob about his thought process in designing high-tech instruments like the near-field camera 3, the cosmic origin spectrograph, and the multi-object spectrometer, and Bob gives his insights about what he calls “the finest scientific instrument ever built.”
Next time you’re at the Museum, come see the Hubble telescope replica hanging above our Space Gallery.
Host: Sean Mobley Guest Host: Akshay Murthy Producer: Keny Dutton Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Episode 10: Do Airplanes Have Keys?
This week we talk to Kevin Gordon, first officer for Alaska Airlines, who graciously answers questions that our listeners have submitted via social media. Do a pilot’s arms get tired after flying all day? And can they watch movies during their flights? Gordon answers these queries and explains that the titles captain and first officer, which many mistake for pilot and co-pilot, stem from military traditions and denote levels of responsibility in the cockpit. The captain is first in charge, and the first officer holds secondary responsibility for the aircraft. Gordon also offers some advice to those with a fear of flight. When white-knuckle flyers approach him and confess their fears, he says this: “I know I just met you, but I like you already, and I love me; so, I’m going to make sure I get me there, because I want to see my family. You’re going to be just fine.”
Want to get your own up-close aviation experience? Head to our Alaska Airlines Aerospace Education Center https://www.museumofflight.org/Education/Educator-Resources/education-center , where you can enjoy hands-on aviation activities, including doing a pre-flight check on our own Cirrus SR20.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Episode 9: Surviving the Final Frontier
Did you know that for every month you spend in space, you lose about 2% BMI? Neither did we until we talked to Tommy Gantz, one of our volunteers and resident space experts. Over the years she’s spent a lot of time studying space travel and life aboard the International Space Station, and has developed a deep respect for anyone who travels to space. Gantz admires astronauts—“They remind me of the first great aviators”—but maintains that she’s not nearly brave enough to spend that much time in space, especially given the harsh physiological consequences that result from extended periods in microgravity. Join us as we discuss what it takes for human bodies to survive the final frontier and how space station experiments can result in miracles of modern medicine.
Want to learn more about life in space? Check out our Charles Simonyi Space Gallery next time you visit! http://www.museumofflight.org/explore-the-museum/museum-galleries/space-gallery
Correction: Mark Kelly is the name of the former NASA Astronaut.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Episode 8: The Angel Bird
Hustling in and out of a Huey helicopter is one of the most vivid memories of Platoon leader David Waggoner and crew chief Jerry Sousa: it took 10-15 seconds to load and unload the helicopter, and their journeys took them to hot zones where they were vulnerable to enemy fire. The Huey and those who flew in it were fearless, reporting to every call no matter how dangerous, and ended up transporting over 90,000 soldiers during the war. Ultimately, Waggoner and Sousa want listeners to know that Huey pilots “fought against the odds to save soldiers’ lives,” and they look forward to sharing more stories about Vietnam by giving tours in our new exhibit.
See our Huey for yourself in our new exhibit, “Vietnam Divided: The War Above Southeast Asia,” opening Saturday May 26.
http://www.museumofflight.org/Exhibits/Vietnam-Divided-War-Above-SE-Asia
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Episode 7: Remembering Apollo Astronaut Dick Gordon
Dick Gordon passed away in November 2017, and author and volunteer Jake Schultz had the honor of recording Gordon’s oral history few months prior to learn about his experiences as an astronaut. In this episode, Gordon talks spaceflight, corvettes, and football.
He recalls the differences between the Gemini and Apollo missions. Gemini’s Titan II rocket was an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) designed to get you into orbit as fast as possible at altitude and then shut down. The Saturn V rocket on the Apollo mission, however, was a different kind of ride. “It shook, rattled and rolled,” Gordon describes.
Gordon, a Seattle native, also fondly recalls bonding with his crew—Pete Conrad and Alan Bean—over their three red Corvettes and taking on the role of the Executive Vice President of the New Orleans Saints after his space career.
Get a taste of what it took to put a man on the Moon in our Apollo exhibit(https://www.museumofflight.org/Exhibits/Apollo) and stay tuned for info about Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission, an exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. This traveling exhibit comes to our Museum in 2019.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Justin Braegelmann Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Episode 6: The Personal Courage Series: Shouting at Hitler
Show Notes: In this second installment of our Personal Courage series, B-17 pilot Dick Nelms takes us on one of his missions and shares how he and his comrades dealt with fear and other realities of war. From a young age, Dick loved planes and when the time came to participate in the war effort, he knew he wanted to fly. And it’s a good thing he did: his 35 missions contributed to the final Allied victory. Dick looks back on his time in the B-17 and is proud of “putting a dent in Hitler’s war machine.”
Get more first-hand accounts of aviation history with our oral histories program. http://www.museumofflight.org/Collections-and-Research/Current-Projects/3251/digitizing-the-american-fighter-aces-oral-histories Email our Curator if you’d like to access an oral history: curator@museumofflight.org
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Justin Braegelmann Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
Episode 5: When We Chose to Go to the Moon
How did a bunch of Houston high school students help President Kennedy drive the United States towards putting a man on the Moon?
In September 1962, Bob Salling, one of our docents, was pulled out of school along with tens of thousands of other Houston high school students to hear a speech by President Kennedy at Rice University. Salling remembers that “a lot of people didn’t like Kennedy, a lot of parents didn’t like Kennedy, and by extension their children didn’t like Kennedy”; but, Kennedy’s words about space exploration got Salling and his peers so excited about the possibility of going to space that they forgot their prejudices. The speech would become a rallying call for the space program in the United States, and in it Kennedy explains that “we choose to go to the Moon not because it is easy, but because it is hard.” "This speech set a deadline for walking on the Moon before the end of the decade, and the excitement it generated kept the space program momentum going through the turbulent '60s."
Get a taste of what it took to put a man on the Moon in our Apollo exhibit (https://www.museumofflight.org/Exhibits/Apollo) and stay tuned for info about Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission, an exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. This traveling exhibit comes to our Museum in 2019.
Listen to Kennedy’s original speech here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouRbkBAOGEw
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Justin Braegelmann Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla Contact us: podcast@museumofflight.org
Episode 4: A Brief History of Legroom
Has your airplane seat felt a little tight lately? It’s not just you—it’s the evolution of legroom on passenger planes, and it’s not getting any roomier. We talk to Marva Semet to discuss how this battle for inches came about. Semet finds that spaces weren’t always so tight on in the early days of aviation, when flying itself was a luxury for the very few. During the 1940s, airlines realized that “the more people they could fit into an aircraft, the better.” Nowadays, airlines consider pitch (the space between a point on one seat and the same point on the seat in front of it) and width in passenger configurations when purchasing planes, and these numbers can be the difference between a comfortable journey and a torturous trek.
Step inside our famous passenger planes: the Boeing Model 80-A(http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/boeing-80a-1), the first Boeing 747(http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/boeing-747-121) and the Boeing 787(http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/boeing-787-dreamliner) Dreamliner.
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Justin Braegelmann Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
More Information: https://www.museumofflight.org/podcast Contact us: podcast@museumofflight.org
Episode 3: Galactic Mixtape Vol. 1
What’s on the cassette tape that can be found at the end of our Apollo (http://www.museumofflight.org/Exhibits/Apollo) exhibit? We chat with exhibit developer Peder Nelson to learn more about this mysterious aerospace artifact. The mix tape belongs to the widow of Pete Conrad, who brought it with him on Skylab 1. As it turns out, Conrad was a huge country music fan! In order to uncover the playlist, Nelson had to pay a visit to GT Recording, who was able to access the recording without damaging the cassette. According to Nelson, the joy of listening to the cassette, which has since been digitized and can be heard at the Museum, includes imagining “what it was like to float around the Earth, staring down and listening to Loretta Lynn.”
Want to see what it’s like to train like an astronaut? Check out our Shuttle Trainer tours(http://www.museumofflight.org/Plan-Your-Visit/Tours-and-Experiences/Shuttle-Trainer-Tours)!
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Justin Braegelmann Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
More Information: https://www.museumofflight.org/podcast Contact us: podcast@museumofflight.org
Episode 2: WASPs
The Women Airforce Pilots did not let anyone stand in their way of serving their country during WWII. These women flew and delivered planes to assist in the war efforts, but their struggles and achievements have gone unrecognized for years. After WWII, the U.S government sealed all documents relating to the WASPs. Our guest Diane Belanger is an expert on the history of WASPs and tells us about their work—ferrying newly built warplanes to be used overseas—and the one of the women who started it all: the formidable Jackie Cochran, who “did not suffer fools gladly.”
See an exhibit about the WASPs in our Personal Courage Wing (http://www.museumofflight.org/explore-the-museum/museum-galleries/personal-courage), and watch Diane perform live in our Living History programs(http://www.museumofflight.org/Plan-Your-Visit/Tours-and-Experiences/Living-History).
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Justin Braegelmann Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
More Information: https://www.museumofflight.org/podcast Contact us: podcast@museumofflight.org
Episode 1: The Spacewalker
What’s it like repairing a billion-dollar solar panel while hurtling 4.67 miles per second through space? Our guest this week, Scott Parazynski, shares the answer with us as we discuss his experiences as an astronaut, mountaineer, and physician to aerospace icon John Glenn, who he likes to describe as a “space rookie.” As an Eagle Scout, Parazynski understands that accomplishing huge goals—like being an astronaut and climbing Mt. Everest—is the result of completing small steps along the way. Parazynski also explains why it’s worth it to pursue space exploration: “It’s our human destiny to be explorers, to push the boundaries of what’s possible.”
Scott's Book, "The Sky Below" available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sky-Below-Story-Summits-Space/dp/1503936694
Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Justin Braegelmann Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla
More Information: https://www.museumofflight.org/podcast Contact us: podcast@museumofflight.org
