The M2-F1, NASA's "Flying Bathtub."

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  • Опубліковано 26 бер 2023
  • In its 64 years of existence, NASA has tested some truly innovative and inspiring ideas. None, perhaps, were more radically weird than the wingless “flying bathtub,” towed by a hopped up Pontiac Catalina. It was a little remembered low-budget program in a time when NASA and the entire idea of space travel was radically different than what we see today- a time when pure engineering enthusiasm could make a bathtub fly.
    Images courtesy National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
    Support The History Guy on Patreon: / thehistoryguy
    This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
    You can purchase the bow tie worn in this episode at The Tie Bar:
    www.thetiebar.com/?...
    All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Non censuram.
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    The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered is the place to find short snippets of forgotten history from five to fifteen minutes long. If you like history too, this is the channel for you.
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    Script by THG
    #history #thehistoryguy #NASA

КОМЕНТАРІ • 447

  • @quick-and-easy
    @quick-and-easy Рік тому +199

    My uncle Ted worked for Ames in the late 60's and when i visited him in 1969 he was gracious enough to give several wind tunnel models, including an Apollo command capsule and a lifting body. I have them right now on my shelf in front of me. California in the 1960's was a marvelous place.

    • @atomicshadowman9143
      @atomicshadowman9143 Рік тому +15

      Those are worth a small fortune

    • @LowEarthOrbitPilot
      @LowEarthOrbitPilot Рік тому +15

      Your Uncle knew you had an appreciation for something so incredibly special in his own life, and knew he could entrust them to you. May your family never fail to treasure that which affected your Uncle’s life in such an intricate way. 👍🏼

    • @35E10
      @35E10 Рік тому +15

      Sweet Jesus! From someone who is absolutely obsessed with the subject, I would have killed to have a day or two talking with him and learning what I can. To have actual artifacts from this program is like a Holy Grail. You're a lucky man, my friend.

    • @lancerevell5979
      @lancerevell5979 Рік тому +1

      You need to get in touch with Mr. Mike Machat, an aviation artist and historian with his own highly regarded YT channel, "Celebrating Aviation With Mike Machat". This would make an interesting episode.

    • @tymoose8621
      @tymoose8621 Рік тому +1

      Amazing piece's

  • @bambambundy6
    @bambambundy6 Рік тому +115

    I would liked to have had him as a history teacher. He's never boring!

    • @DaveJenkinsCivilian
      @DaveJenkinsCivilian Рік тому +6

      He IS your history teacher

    • @bobroberts2371
      @bobroberts2371 Рік тому +3

      The problem with many K - 12 schools is the reliance on mindless memorization of minute easy to test for details like dates / places rather than the aura of what happened.
      If only schools followed the THG format by giving students broad , time limited exposure to topics. Every few weeks the assignment would be to pick a topic the student is interested in and do further research for a short discussion. While this might be more difficult to test for, the outcome would be far better for the student.
      This would kind of follow the 3M 15 % rule.

    • @ologhai8559
      @ologhai8559 Рік тому +1

      if he would be boring, then he would make a good geology teacher

  • @Matthew-by6vl
    @Matthew-by6vl Рік тому +16

    Great video. FYI...the new lifting body vehicle by Sierra Nevada is called "Dreamchaser", not "Dreamcatcher". They iterated an old Soviet design known as the Mig 105.

  • @MikesTropicalTech
    @MikesTropicalTech Рік тому +101

    I was waiting for the Steve Austin reference, you don't disappoint! There was also a similar Boeing project called Dyna-Soar that was cancelled before the first flight. The X-37B has made several flights to space and landed autonomously. I'm waiting for the Dream Chaser to make orbit soon.

    • @steveaustin2686
      @steveaustin2686 Рік тому +5

      It's looking like Dream Chaser has been pushed back to Dec 2023 for its demo CRS flight. It's unknown if Vulcan Centaur will do a dummy payload for its 2nd certification flight or wait until Dream Chaser flies. The Vulcan Centaur is currently scheduled for May the Fourth, if testing continues to go well.

    • @andyharman3022
      @andyharman3022 Рік тому +8

      Pitch is out! I can't hold altitude! She's breaking up, she's breaking up!

    • @lancerevell5979
      @lancerevell5979 Рік тому +6

      "We can rebuild it, make it better than before!" 👍

    • @davidcox3076
      @davidcox3076 Рік тому +8

      Caught the reference, too. I've always wondered, if they remade the TV series today, if they would have to rename it. $6 million doesn't go as far today as it did 50 years ago.

    • @craiglilly3657
      @craiglilly3657 Рік тому +5

      Some years ago (1980’s maybe) I was driving around Moffett Field/Ames and saw a white shape I recognized as what I knew as a Dyna-Soar. It was probably a test shape for wind tunnel testing. It’s great to have more of the backstory from the always interesting History Guy.

  • @GrinderCB
    @GrinderCB Рік тому +6

    Like many my age I was fascinated by The Six Million Dollar Man and was always amazed by the crash scene in the opening. Years later I looked it up and learned about lifting bodies. Several of them were made with different body styles but the M2-F1 in this video was probably the most well-known.

  • @TgWags69
    @TgWags69 Рік тому +13

    Of all the re-runs available, I'm surprised that The six million dollar man has not been streamed for us old boys lol.

    • @kevinmacdougall6665
      @kevinmacdougall6665 Рік тому +2

      All the TV movies and all 5 seasons are on Peacock

    • @TgWags69
      @TgWags69 Рік тому +1

      @@kevinmacdougall6665 Really? Cool!

    • @kevinmacdougall6665
      @kevinmacdougall6665 Рік тому

      @TgWags Yep plus they're all available on DVD and Blu Ray now with great Bonus Features

  • @BrianSFischer
    @BrianSFischer Рік тому +18

    I wish I had known that you were doing a video on the M2-F1. My father conducted the restoration of the vehicle in the 90s. I could have arranged for you to speak with him!

    • @BrianSFischer
      @BrianSFischer Рік тому +4

      It is really cool to have an episode so closely tied to my childhood, Dale Reed was a close family friend that I spent many weekends flying model airplanes with. I also knew the Bikles as a child, but only just remember them. There was a large group of NASA people that vacations together at Pismo beach every summer and Mr. and Mrs. Bikle looked after my brother and I now and them.

    • @gabrielbennett5162
      @gabrielbennett5162 Рік тому

      Did you ever meet my grandfather, Vic Horton?

  • @almostfm
    @almostfm Рік тому +3

    The Apollo and Gemini capsules did have some steering capability. The center of mass was deliberately offset from the center of lift (and the capsules did have some lift). They could roll the spacecraft to change the relationship between the two, letting them move the touchdown point uprange or downrange and having a small cross-range capability.

  • @richardmourdock2719
    @richardmourdock2719 Рік тому +35

    BRAVO!! One of your best episodes ever. For its obscurity, rareness and humor. And of course, there is tragedy involved too. An absolute shame that Mr. Bickle's individualism, creativity and willingness to take professional risk is extinct. We are the worse for its absence.

    • @paulm749
      @paulm749 Рік тому +5

      Those risk-taking qualities are not extinct - they have simply moved into the private sector, SpaceX being perhaps the prime example.

  • @lairdcummings9092
    @lairdcummings9092 Рік тому +8

    My father was one of the supervisors of the camera range during the early testing of the lifting body tests.

  • @fordfan3179
    @fordfan3179 Рік тому +19

    Probably one of the best (theatrical) depictions of this type of craft was in the 1969 movie "Marooned" staring Gene Hackman, James Franciscus, Gregory Peck among others. (Great cast) where the vehicle was used to rescue an Apollo crew from being stranded or "Marooned" in space. I got to see that film in the movies as a kid. I was absolutely hooked on the space program at that point!

    • @thisismagacountry1318
      @thisismagacountry1318 Рік тому +1

      Then you'll love Plan 9 from Outer Space.
      Listed as one of the worst movies of all time.

    • @CaptApril123
      @CaptApril123 Рік тому +3

      I forgot about that..launched through the eye of a hurricane. Yes, great movie.

    • @CaptApril123
      @CaptApril123 Рік тому +1

      @@thisismagacountry1318 "you people of earth are idiots!" love that movie Tim Burton recreated all the scenes from Plan 9 in 'Ed Wood'

  • @kspencerian
    @kspencerian Рік тому +12

    Great account. Two gaffes: The Space Shuttle leverages some lifting-body tech but isn't a true one. And the Sierra Space lifting body spaceplane was mispronounced as "Dream Catcher" when its name is the "Dream Chaser."

  • @Crediblesport
    @Crediblesport Рік тому +4

    My father and our family flew sailplanes at El Mirage airport. I was 7 or 8 years old and I remember Paul Bickel, as a sailplane pilot and Gus Briegleb, and family building the m2 in the hanger at El Mirage airport. I saw the M2 at the museum in July of 2021. I was told the Pontiac is being restored. Thanks for the memories.

  • @kcthecowboy
    @kcthecowboy Рік тому +25

    Thanks so much for this episode. The story of the M2- F1 is one of my favorites. Interestingly, the team worked in a corner of a hanger blocked off with tarps and a sign reading "Wrights Bicycle Shop". BTW I have the same shuttle astronaut as you in my collection, as well as a copy of Reeds book.

  • @alynnhiscox7303
    @alynnhiscox7303 Рік тому +3

    The "6-Million Dollar Man" reference gave me a chuckle.

    • @rawcado
      @rawcado Рік тому

      ua-cam.com/video/0CPJ-AbCsT8/v-deo.html

  • @markdodd1152
    @markdodd1152 Рік тому +5

    You are the coolest history teacher ever. The fact that they used a Pontiac makes me so happy

  • @southerndigest8996
    @southerndigest8996 Рік тому

    As the daughter of a NASA aerospace engineer who retired after 30 years with NASA in 1988, I appreciated the nod to the ingenuous, innovative and daring men and women who pursued this idea. Thank you for giving them the spotlight!

  • @navret1707
    @navret1707 Рік тому +11

    Unfortunately we are now firmly in a “risk adverse” society. There are just too many lawyers. I was once asked if I wanted to be a lawyer, I said “No, my parents were married.”

  • @zclark1986
    @zclark1986 Рік тому +3

    Cool flying bathtub and all but the Pontiac Catalina stole the show for me. I think my new dream car is one that has towed a spaceship.

  • @rebelscumspeedshop
    @rebelscumspeedshop Рік тому +4

    As a lover of aviation the lifting body is fascinating..you know it works simply by watching it but part of my brain still says" wait a minute" lol

  • @TiredOldDad1
    @TiredOldDad1 Рік тому +1

    I was in grade school in the 1960s and saw a film during science class about this aircraft featuring the convertible towing it into flight. I had no idea so much effort went into the details of souping up the car to get the horsepower it needed. In the film it looked like just a regular car on a Sunday drive. As always with the history guy, I think I know everything about a subject until the history guy shows me that I really had no idea!😂

  • @stevevalley2784
    @stevevalley2784 Рік тому +34

    Great video as always History Guy! I enjoy studying the X-15, the flying bathtub & all experimental projects that took us into space, the moon & to the space shuttles.

  • @BlueBaron3339
    @BlueBaron3339 Рік тому +18

    Marvelous episode! Add this to the sadly long list of inspired innovations that most reckon could not happen now. But every field from science to the arts has these periodic windows when remarkable advances can happen. What the aviation writer Richard Bach used to call, "running from safety."

  • @achillebelanger9546
    @achillebelanger9546 Рік тому +1

    My Father helped build the Muroc Maru Wooden Japanese Target Cruiser, and the U. S Navy Radar Training Ship there at Lake Muroc. In the 1950s he worked on Guided Missile , Drone and Ejection Seat 💺 Projects there. The Airmen and Civilian Contractors used to Race Hot Rods and Motorcycles there as well.

  • @BlindIo42
    @BlindIo42 Рік тому +3

    I remember reading about the Lifting Body project in Air & Space magazine as a kid, it always stuck with me as one of the most brilliant and improbable ideas. This shoestring lark of a side project eventually contributed the lion's share of data needed to build the Space Shuttle.
    The later lifting body aircraft I believe were also tested in western Utah, out of the same field in Wendover, NV where the B-29 crews trained to drop the first atomic weapons.

  • @Batters56
    @Batters56 Рік тому +2

    14:13 You mention the “cutting edge” Dream Chaser lifting body, but it is in fact very closely based on a mid 1960s design from the Soviet lifting body program.
    I always like this thought experiment: In 2023 We are now as far away in years from 1962 as 1962 was from 1903 when the Wright brothers first achieved powered flight. In 1962 the still “futuristic” looking Lockheed A-12 Mach 3+ reconnaissance aircraft flew for the first time!

    • @user-px2yn4zg2l
      @user-px2yn4zg2l Рік тому

      no the americans had enough data on the lifting body the dream chaser has use info from shuttle and various nasa lifting bodies created in 1960s after the flying bathtib

  • @warped-sliderule
    @warped-sliderule Рік тому

    Thanks History Guy! Was fortunate enough to be stationed at Edwards in the mid 70s. Our group supplied NASA with radar, photographic, theodolite data for the X-24B, the last of the experimental lifting bodies. The X-24B's approach was shockingly steep and that brought to mind how ballsy and skilled those pilots were. Little known fact: Our group's video IS the crash sequence for the six million dollar man. Of course hearing the real understated audio from our tapes contrasted sharply from the "Hollywood" overstated version...

  • @euphan123
    @euphan123 Рік тому +3

    As an MP on Camp Foster, I pulled over someone driving a recreation of Kit from Knight Rider. We are just curious about these cars, people!

  • @Thor-rq4lk
    @Thor-rq4lk Рік тому +8

    Doing something that’s never been done before…that sums it up beautifully! Great video as always History Guy!

    • @jessepollard7132
      @jessepollard7132 Рік тому

      It is what Elon Musk dotes on. hence landing rockets for reuse, and building Starship SuperHeavy boosters.

  • @grene1955
    @grene1955 Рік тому +1

    I was a fueler in the USAF at Edwards in the early 70's I fueled the B52 that carried the next generation of the lifting body many times. It was amazing to se this really small test craft land at something like 320 MPH, with no chance of a "go around". Talk about having the right stuff!

  • @celestialdream49
    @celestialdream49 Рік тому +4

    You said "Dream Catcher"... LOL at 4:11, that's the "Dream Chaser" made by Sierra Space. Great video... thank you!! Under construction at its Colorado headquarters and expected to launch in 2023 on the first of a series of NASA missions to the International Space Station, Dream Chaser can safely carry cargo - and eventually crew - to on-orbit destinations, returning to land on compatible commercial airport runways worldwide.

  • @richardgoldy854
    @richardgoldy854 Рік тому +1

    AS an US Army officer in the early 70's I was assigned to NASA Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB in the flight simulation group. One of my favorite things to do was to watch the M2-F2 test flights. They would drop it from a B52 at 40,000 feet and it rocket itself to 80,000 feet. Four minutes later it would be landing on the dry lake bed. Bruce Peterson no longer flew jets for NASA after his accident. He was Project Manager on the first Digital Fly By Wire airplane. A project that I worked on for my time there. One thing that you did not mention was that Paul Bikle was an accomplished glider pilot. For 25 years he held the record for the highest altitude in an unpiloted sail plane (46267 feet). This may have encouraged him sponsor the M2-F1 project.

  • @glennac
    @glennac Рік тому +1

    “She’s breaking up! She’s breaking up!” First thing I thought of when I saw today’s episode. 😆

  • @brucemoriarty9964
    @brucemoriarty9964 Рік тому +2

    They should teach History like you do in our schools my friend. God Bless ya.

  • @stephenirwin2761
    @stephenirwin2761 Рік тому +1

    Great retrospective as usual. I really enjoy your posts. Small correction - Sierra Nevada’s craft is the Dream Chaser not Dream Catcher and the cargo version is set to fly this year. They are planning a manned version to fly later.

  • @goldgeologist5320
    @goldgeologist5320 Рік тому +1

    Science, engineering, a strong economy and brave unselfish hard working citizens is what made America great.

  • @scotto9591
    @scotto9591 Рік тому

    Professor Geiger.... We really appreciate when you make the snarky, like, he was built devices 😅
    You really make history fun. Thank you

  • @zakiranderson722
    @zakiranderson722 Рік тому +5

    Great job history guy, the lifting body is one of my favourite.

  • @alandyer910
    @alandyer910 Рік тому +1

    A great look back at a wonderful part of space exploration history. Made all the more relevant by the new craft being developed today. Thank you!

  • @macsarcule
    @macsarcule 2 місяці тому +1

    Omg, I was hoping for a Steve Austin reference, but wasn’t sure it would happen. You made my day! 😃👍

  • @rickyrodriguez5744
    @rickyrodriguez5744 Рік тому +2

    Another well-versed episode from whatever that guys name is, oh yeah, The History Guy

  • @RevMikeBlack
    @RevMikeBlack Рік тому +1

    It was a fascinating aircraft and an incredibly important step forward in lifting body vehicles in air and space.

  • @taitano12
    @taitano12 Рік тому +2

    I remember researching this project when I was designing a space plane. There were books about it, but I was focused on the NASA Engineering and Test Reports, so I never got around to reading them. This is why I love these stories, your channel, but channels like it. Filling out the background of things I know about, and covering things I've never heard of.
    Thank you. 👍

  • @gabrielbennett5162
    @gabrielbennett5162 Рік тому

    My grandfather, Vic Horton, was the project leader on the M2-F1, having been selected for the job by Dale Reed and FRC director, Paul Bikle.

  • @eieghn
    @eieghn Рік тому +1

    The Flying Bathtub (M2-F1) was the stuff of dreams in my 8 year old mind back in 1963..........

  • @MBMCincy63
    @MBMCincy63 Рік тому +1

    shivering black bell thumbs up! I have been trying to watch at least 3 episodes a week of current and older! so glad I found this channel.

  • @williamrankin2418
    @williamrankin2418 Рік тому

    Ty from a fellow educator
    Bet this guy was the best teacher hundreds of kids ever had
    again Ty sir

  • @ratlips4363
    @ratlips4363 Рік тому

    Back in the early 60s, my dad was a project manager at Boeing in Seattle on a project called "Dyna Soar". This was the original project for the Space Shuttle and this aircraft. In 1966 the miliary dropped the funding, my dad was laid off, and we moved to California where he started working for Lockheed

  • @garylewis6495
    @garylewis6495 Рік тому +1

    The aircraft seen crashing in the "Six Million Dollar Man's" opening sequence was an M2-F2, a "lifting body configuration" built by Northrop.

  • @kevinmacdougall6665
    @kevinmacdougall6665 Рік тому +1

    Great shout out to my favorite TV show as a kid...SMDM

  • @costrio
    @costrio Рік тому +2

    Excellent retelling of forgotten history events. I recently remarked how the "flying bathtub" concept was being reconsidered and I'm pleased to see that I'm not the only one who remembers our dreams of the future that began in past.

  • @braxtonnelson7422
    @braxtonnelson7422 Рік тому +6

    Everything about this channel is great... the research, the presentation, the accompanying photos and videos, and, of course, the History Guys' fantastic oratory skills. If you want to learn something new every day, this is wonderful place to do it!

  • @jwestney2859
    @jwestney2859 Рік тому

    When learning to fly a plane, you gain a feeling for how wings give you lift, they keep you aloft and not crashing in to the ground. So when I imaging plying a plane with no wing, I get a falling feeling in the pit of my stomach. Figuring out how to get lift without wings? A freaking miracle!

  • @user-yc2oz8kc5k
    @user-yc2oz8kc5k 4 місяці тому +1

    I was going to point out that fact about Steve Austin. Good job, THG.

  • @covercalls88
    @covercalls88 Рік тому

    Having almost 50 years of Radio Control experience in designing and flying normal and weird aircraft I can appreciate what the designers and builders of the flying bathtub did. At the local flying field the other fliers would kid me about all the weird aircraft I created.and flew. But they always knew I was the go to guy to look over and test new airplanes.

  • @njpaddler
    @njpaddler Рік тому +4

    Speaking of lifting bodies, please do an episode on the combination airship & lifting body prototype Aereon 26, as lovingly depicted in John McPhee's short book "The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed". It is quite a compelling story of opportunities lost which definitely deserves to be remembered. The most successful and last of their working prototypes resides in a tiny Air Victory Museum a few miles from here. Had they been successful in other ways the plan was to build gigantic versions of it which would have changed both air & ground transportation forever.

    • @hongo3870
      @hongo3870 Рік тому

      Speaking of lifting bodies,I want a video about the monkey raids on villages in India. Monkey history please!

    • @willoughby1888
      @willoughby1888 Рік тому

      @@hongo3870 Monkey raids... lifting bodies...ouch. More than that. More than just ouch. Children probably were involved. A grown man would pee then run the best they could. Not at the monkey either, away from them. While all peeing. I'm guessing about how it might be though. Thankfully.
      I fed a wild caged monkey a few times at age 11 back in the late 60's. Every time I got close with the pealed bananas his long arm exploded from the bars of his tiny cage and snatched it from my hand before I could even see it. It was a strong arm, I could tell that much. Like young Mike Tyson. Not old rapist Mike Tyson. Free that monkey and multiply it, then have it raid my town and I'd more than forget I had a bladder.
      I agree with you. Yes, I'd too would enjoy a bit of that history that should be remembered, or at least recalled while remembering some other historic trauma. Thanks Hongo. Dang if that don't kinda sound like a monkey's name right there! "Hongo, wanna banana?" Forgive me please, and hello from Maine. That was just me being "I Bee Fun Knee", which I also honestly UA-cam 2nd channel am. Thanks for that decent idea you shared. I hope that it does happen.

  • @kibashisiyoto6771
    @kibashisiyoto6771 Рік тому

    I remember back in the late '60's seeing a variety of models lying around outside of the Ames wind tunnel, including one in the shape of the "bathtub". It was only about 6-10 feet long, but definitly that shape.

  • @RCAvhstape
    @RCAvhstape Рік тому +1

    Great video, but the Space Shuttle is not a lifting body, it's a conventional fuselage with a cranked delta wing. Some of the alternate designs for STS were lifting bodies, though.

  • @richb313
    @richb313 Рік тому +1

    Thoroughly enjoyed this episode learning of the origins of this lifting body you always bring a more complete understanding to your topics.

  • @stevenlitvintchouk3131
    @stevenlitvintchouk3131 9 місяців тому +1

    Before "The Six Million Dollar Man," the 1969 sci-fi movie "Marooned" showed a lifting body spacecraft, called the X-RV, being used to rescue the stranded astronauts. But that lifting body was fictional, probably based on some aerospace proof of concept from the 1960s.

  • @joegordon5117
    @joegordon5117 Рік тому +1

    I'd heard of the flying bathtub, but not the government owned hot-rod! That made me smile!

  • @jimhowardbatey410
    @jimhowardbatey410 Рік тому +1

    Liked this. Please, more about space travel and NASA

  • @patricklewis7636
    @patricklewis7636 Рік тому +1

    Not dream catcher. It's the dream chaser, written on the side of the craft in the picture when the mistake was made in the voice over! It's a nice little ship that is supposed to take off for the first time this year.

  • @edl617
    @edl617 Рік тому

    My favorite was The Dyna-Soar program (System 464L), initiated on October 10, 1957, took three separate, but related studies on manned, hypersonic weapons and reconnaissance systems (Hywards (SR-131), Bomi/Brass Bell (SR-12) and Robo (SR-126)) and merged them into a single, three-phased program. The research conducted, knowledge gained and the technological advances made during the course of program (1957-1963), would be applied to the X-15 test program, both of which would help guide later experimental test vehicles like the X-40 and X-37 as well as the development of the Space Shuttle orbiter.

  • @TheEudaemonicPlague
    @TheEudaemonicPlague Рік тому +2

    I know I read about the flying bathtub at some point, but I don't recall having ever seen more than a black and white photo of it. There are so many of these things that I was interested in as a kid, but forgot about as I got older...thanks for reminding me that those things are still out there to be learned about. There are other channels that talk about these things, but many of them are dull and uninteresting--your videos always pull me in, and I don't notice the time going by.

  • @THR33STEP
    @THR33STEP Рік тому +1

    That episode was phenomenal!!!!!! You could have made another episode just on that Pontiac!!!! AWESOME!!!!!

  • @Redmenace96
    @Redmenace96 Рік тому +1

    First thing: if anyone thinks that NASA engineers and hot-rodders don't overlap- you have never met either one. I'll bet that every NASA dude wanted a spin in that Pontiac Catalina. 140 mph while towing?! R U kidding me?
    Second: the detail the THG offers and the characters involved really bring home one of his final thoughts. This sort of WAG experimentation has evaporated. Why are Americans married to the paycheck and the retirement benefits, that they think they can't do anything important or helpful?

  • @capt.bart.roberts4975
    @capt.bart.roberts4975 Рік тому +1

    I remember reading about lifting bodies in a British magazine called Boys Own Paper. A rather weird holdover from The Age of The British Empire.

  • @michaelramsten3194
    @michaelramsten3194 Рік тому +4

    Thank you. I look forward to gaining new knowledge. You provide what I would never have gotten in school. Keep up the good work. Again thank you.

  • @fatboyrowing
    @fatboyrowing Рік тому +1

    Feeding the algorithm…. Love this story…. Love the delivery

  • @_duta_
    @_duta_ Рік тому +1

    Dream chaser, not dream catcher.
    Excellent video, and even has some info in it I didn't know.

  • @derekdowns6275
    @derekdowns6275 Рік тому

    14:10 "Dream Catcher"? Caught a boo-boo! GREAT video as always, sir! Thank you.

  • @AbbStar1989
    @AbbStar1989 Рік тому +4

    Thank you for making this channel Mr Guy. You are quite likely the coolest guy on the planet! 💖

  • @peterkleid1573
    @peterkleid1573 Рік тому +1

    Peter k
    I was working at Boeing in 1959 on Bomarc and remember a very short lived program called Dana Soar a lifting body design
    later dubbed the x-20 Space plane for the Air Force. The project lasted from November 1959 till it was canceled December 1963.

  • @colinsdad1
    @colinsdad1 Рік тому +2

    Ok.... Now I MUST see this Pontiac when it's restored! What a cool story!

  • @Desertrat87
    @Desertrat87 Рік тому

    You mentioned the P-59 toward the beginning of this video. I did a research paper in high school on the history and development of the jet fighter. In doing my research for that paper, I ran across a hilarious story involving the P-59. Of course when testing of the P-59 first began, it was shrouded in secrecy and conducted at what is now Edwards AFB. So the story goes that one day, an Army Air Corps pilot stationed at the nearby USAAF barracks returned from logging some hours in his fighter and told a fantastic story. Apparently this pilot, who was not known for being a very truthful guy, came back to the barracks and told his fellow pilots that he had been out flying when he was passed by an aircraft with no propeller being flown by a gorilla smoking cigar. Of course, his fellow pilots laughed at him and passed it off as just another one of his ridiculous stories. However, it turns out he was actually telling the whole truth on this occasion. What he saw was the P-59 being flown by its chief test pilot (whose name I forget. I think it was Jack something), who enjoyed dressing up in gorilla costumes and also enjoyed smoking cigars. So on this particular day, the test pilot had gone up in the top secret jet wearing his gorilla costume and was smoking a cigar in the cockpit when he was spotted by a passing USAAF pilot. The test pilot probably figured he'd get away with it because even if someone did see him doing this and report it, no one would believe them.

  • @JamesJansson
    @JamesJansson Рік тому +2

    "Hey, watcha doing with the government hotrod?"
    "Calibrating"
    "Sure... don't crash it we've only got one."

  • @nelsonbergman7706
    @nelsonbergman7706 Рік тому +1

    They built their own early version of the Pontiac G.T.O. Great video. Thanks for posting

  • @williampotter2098
    @williampotter2098 Рік тому

    Saw a few "lifting bodies" as they called them at Edwards AFB in a hangar about 1971. I was in ROTC and we were on a tour. Very cool. You don't ever hear about them.

  • @rwarren58
    @rwarren58 Рік тому

    Interesting. This was just so interesting and relaxing. Reminds me of the TV show “Sunday Morning” back in the day.

  • @achillebelanger9546
    @achillebelanger9546 Рік тому

    Dad helped build the XP-59 and the Y Jobs. They put wooden Propellers to disguise them from Spies on the Nose! He worked on Bells 🔔 early Helicopters too. The Helicopters were developed in a Barn in Pennsylvania.

  • @dougadams9419
    @dougadams9419 Рік тому

    NASA was experimenting what is called a "lifting body" aircraft. Little or no wings, the shape of the body provided the lift.
    Perfected in the opening sequence of Start Trek Enterprise when you see one refueling in orbit.

  • @captainskippy6622
    @captainskippy6622 Рік тому

    As always, that was an incredible history lesson and video. I was born in 1958 and grew up in the 60s and 70s. I was always amazed and enthusiastic about space travel. In that time I built many models of spacecraft and aircraft. One of those I remember being called the Dyna lifting body. Of course, every kid growing up in the 60s dreamed of being an astronaut but unfortunately that dream did not come to a realization for me me. But I still had a successful career and now am enjoying retirement.

  • @rv6amark
    @rv6amark Рік тому

    Excellent coverage of a cutting edge test program. I really enjoyed seeing Bruce Peterson's picture near the end. I worked with him years later on the B2 program where he was a system safety engineer. Sadly he passed away shortly after his retirement from that program.

  • @joeschmoe591
    @joeschmoe591 Рік тому

    I'll probably be the only one pointing this out within the fascinating content and impeccable presentation. The cop detained an innocent driver to satisfy his own curiosity. It was a 4th amendment seizure w/o reasonable articulable suspicion, and then the driver good naturedly spills the beans on the entire project. Simpler times back then. With this anecdote, one can trace the modern LEOs contemptuous attitude towards citizenry all the way back to that curious cop from the 1960s.

  • @dexexmachinatu4151
    @dexexmachinatu4151 Рік тому +3

    big fan of lifting body aircrafts, they look like cute scifi starships.

  • @roryvonbrutt7302
    @roryvonbrutt7302 Рік тому

    Fantastic❗️absolutely astounding❗️
    Once again the history guy,
    home run, out of the park...
    grand slam, even a hot rod‼️®️™️
    Wow 🔥🔥🔥
    (and the 6 Million Dollar Man)

  • @JohnD7305
    @JohnD7305 Рік тому +1

    Bruce Peterson lost his eye because of the crash. To a staph infection in the hospital afterwards. I met him at a party given by my uncle at my grandmother's house near Quartz Hill in the late 60's.

  • @SAVikingSA
    @SAVikingSA Рік тому

    A deep dive on Muroc would be cool, as it has a broad aviation AND land speed racing history.
    The American automotive performance aftermarket was basically launched in response to post WWII racing activities there.

  • @KenVic02
    @KenVic02 Рік тому

    Great episode. Thank you for the nod to Steve Austin as well. I was a young teenager when that show came out and got me totally hooked on the lifting body program. Read as much as I could find on them. Keep episodes like this coming HG!

  • @rickyhawkins7407
    @rickyhawkins7407 Рік тому +1

    Really appreciate stories like these. Thank you History Guy.

  • @audiodiwhy2195
    @audiodiwhy2195 Рік тому

    Outstanding as usual. Love this channel.

  • @timward4301
    @timward4301 Рік тому

    It might be worth noting that Paul Bikle held the gliding world records for both absolute altitude (46,269 ft) and altitude gained (42,305 ft) from 1961 until 1986. Towing behind a car off nearby Rosamond Dry Lake was a common way to launch a glider. So from Bikle's point of view, it was probably just a scaling up of things he and the local soaring pilots (including Gus Briegleb over at El Mirage) already knew how to do.

  • @DeconvertedMan
    @DeconvertedMan Рік тому +1

    Those little planes are super cute! :D

  • @claudiagraves7035
    @claudiagraves7035 Рік тому +2

    My dad work for NASA at Edwards Air Force Base in the 60’s and 70’s until he retired in the early 80’s. We got to see lots of really cool and amazing stuff.

    • @BrianSFischer
      @BrianSFischer Рік тому +1

      It is likely our dads knew each other. My dad(Richard ‘Dick’ Fischer) worked at Edwards (NASA) from 1965 until about 1980 when he transferred over to space shuttle.

    • @claudiagraves7035
      @claudiagraves7035 Рік тому

      @@BrianSFischer very possible my dads title was experimental electronic technician. My dads name was Jerry(Gerald)Perry. It is funny how sonic booms and rocket engine testing was everyday occurrence.

  • @troy242
    @troy242 Рік тому +1

    Great vid! I ALWAYS enjoy your content.

  • @jwestney2859
    @jwestney2859 Рік тому

    7:50 Go Bertha! Go Harriet! You girl did a great thing!😍

  • @jeffreyharrison4111
    @jeffreyharrison4111 Рік тому

    It's worth remembering that old saw that the fastest way to stop a reaction is with the addition of Administratium 99. Your observation that the US has changed in such a way that something like this couldn't be done today. Ineffably sad, but true.

  • @bobroberts2371
    @bobroberts2371 Рік тому

    From the president of 3M, William McKnight , in 1948
    “Mistakes will be made,” McKnight wrote. “But if a person is essentially right, the mistakes he or she makes are not as serious in the long run as the mistakes management will make if it undertakes to tell those in authority exactly how they must do their jobs.”
    “Management that is destructively critical when mistakes are made kills initiative. And it's essential that we have many people with initiative if we are to continue to grow.”

  • @DarkDragonPath
    @DarkDragonPath Рік тому

    Always loved the story of the "Flying Bathtub", thanks for providing another great look at this wonderful piece of NASA and aviation history. Bravo!