The Coolest Picture Of My Father

"Jonee" (Jonee) 07/27/2017 at 15:33 • Filed to: None

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That’s my dad back when he was in the Air Force in the 1950's fresh out of college. He was stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio and worked in research and development. He never flew a place, but did help design components like this thing. He’s sitting in a mock-up of an ejector seat capsule thing that was being developed for a high altitude surveillance plane. Possibly the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , based on my own research. He said the plane never went into production and the X-16 was abandoned in favor of the U2.

Since you were at such a high altitude, they felt you needed an environment capsule, so this had those things that would drop down upon ejection and the whole unit would be pressurized. The seat was also ergonomically designed to help with fatigue on the long flights. That was my father’s specialty and he went on to become quite a successful furniture designer when he left the service. He doesn’t have too many mementos from his time in the Air Force. But, he does have this, one of the most rad photos ever. Also cool: he was on the team that designed a seat for a monkey to sit in a centrifuge when the space program was getting started. He said everything changed in his department once Sputnik was launched. Everything became about, “rockets and space.”

jimz > Jonee 07/27/2017 at 15:39

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is it sad that the first thing I thought of was “does one flash mean ‘yes’ and two mean ‘no?’”

Steve in Manhattan > Jonee 07/27/2017 at 15:43

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A bit of Frank Borman there ...

Jonee > jimz 07/27/2017 at 16:00

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Haha. Totally.

Jonee > Steve in Manhattan 07/27/2017 at 16:01

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White men all looked the same back then.

kanadanmajava1 > Jonee 07/27/2017 at 16:28

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Interesting. B-58 and XB-70 used ejection pods with slightly similar canopy but I don’t remember any others that would have used such. I would have thought that this would only be useful in a very fast aircraft and X-16 was supposed to be quite slow.

Stanley Aviation developed the pod for B-58 after they got the contract in ‘54. The founder was former vice president of engineering at Bell Aircraft so maybe they had some ties with Bell and your father’s work.

Jonee > kanadanmajava1 07/27/2017 at 17:13

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Ah, yeah, you’re right. That is a similar capsule. And it does make sense for something like those planes. From what he remembers, this was for a craft that would stay aloft for a long period of time possibly with some kind of escort, hence the need for comfortable seats. That’s why I guessed the X-16 was a possibility. He also said this thing didn’t make it far in development, so maybe it was abandoned after Stanley had their capsule.

Wagonlife740 > jimz 07/27/2017 at 17:35

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You beat me to it. Was going to ask if their dad was Captain Pike.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/29/2017 at 17:52

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Hey, I know that picture! Am I some sort of guinea pig? Good lord Leonard looks focussed. If I keep looking at him I’m afraid I’ll get hypnotized!

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/30/2017 at 02:51

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I like to gauge your reaction before going for the full post.

Don’t ever look right into his eyes. I made that mistake once. Once...

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/30/2017 at 17:34

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Haha, I’m glad you do. And proud to be that guinea pig!

So he’s some sort of reincarnation of Dr. Mabuse! But what did happen, you lost the curls?

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/31/2017 at 01:43

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Haha. He is kind of like Dr. Mabuse. What curls are we talking about? I’ve never had curls on my head.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/31/2017 at 08:58

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That’s the powers of Leonard working again, you just forget everything. Even curls.

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/31/2017 at 22:33

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You’re making me realize my whole childhood was a lie. A big deception created by a mastermind.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/01/2017 at 09:23

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In that case Leonard needs new training. If he was any good you still wouldn’t believe me...

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/01/2017 at 22:33

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Haha. Touché . I guess he’s losing his touch.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/02/2017 at 06:10

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He’s aging. The older he gets, the better he was.

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/02/2017 at 14:38

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Haha. Same here.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/03/2017 at 16:11

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Zoom into this.

I need that sticker.

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/03/2017 at 23:57

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Haha. Those are big in the classic car scene here. You see a lot of these t-shirts on men with large guts.

You definitely need one.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/04/2017 at 13:19

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Well, might you see one before you head out for Paris snag me one!

The one on the Porsche that is!

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/04/2017 at 16:06

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You sure you don’t want one of the shirts? Here’s one with the perfect Porsche already on it. Plus other of your favorite things.

You want it with the surfboard, or without the surfboard?

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/05/2017 at 16:37

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As a sailor hating a jetski is mandatory. What’s in the crates? ;-)

With!

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/06/2017 at 00:00

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Root beer.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/06/2017 at 17:20

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Root cause.

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/07/2017 at 00:30

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Root canal.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/08/2017 at 12:17

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Jonee > Jobjoris 08/08/2017 at 22:00

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That’s so nerdy it goes right over my head. But, I get it. Sort of. I’ll get Leonard to explain it to me.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/12/2017 at 13:19

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It’s a Linux/Nerd thing. Root access is the highest of all rights, it means you are simply unstoppable. You should get such a shirt for in the LNA!

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/12/2017 at 17:40

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That’s a great idea. “Bow before me for I drive an LN A .”

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/14/2017 at 03:38

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I’m making another one. “Bow before me for I have curls.”

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/14/2017 at 23:29

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Bow before me for I am knokige.