Father's day came a day early!

[TSwezey]

This is what I got to see and this close today!


I got an email from my brother,a USAF Major, yesterday. He had some passes to watch the shuttle land today. The only problem is Kennedy is five hours away and I really didn't want to make the trip by car. I called a friend that usually goes down there with me and he said he would help pay for some of the plane costs if we flew. We used the logic that we would have to pay for car gas so plane gas wouldn't be that much more! What are the odds that the Tiger, the only plane in our 30 member club, would be available on a Saturday without reserving it weeks in advance. I decided to check anyway and it was available. Lucky I was!

So at 6:30 this morning we took off to the sun rising, a few puffy clouds and headed for Merrit Island. We landed at 8:30 where my brother was waiting to take us to the bus for the short trip to the landing site. Now I thought maybe they would never let us within a few miles of the shuttle landing. I was wrong ! We were at most 2500' away! We were standing right next to the bleachers that held the families of the astronauts. If you ever get a chance to watch the shuttle land take it! I think is better than the launch! First you hear the two sonic booms as the shuttle comes past the runway to the east. They are loud! Just after the booms you can pick it out. It starts a long 180 degree turn with a Gulfstream flying formation with it! It's the gulfstream that is modified to fly like the shuttle. My guess is the next pilot is practicing his approach in a real world environment. Just before it touches down you loose sight as it goes behind the trees. Then all of sudden this tail and parachute appear over the trees. You can track the Gulfstream to see where it is on the runway. It gets to the clearing and wow! You even feel a breeze as it goes by! It's a beast!

Before the landing we actually got a drive around tour of all the launch sites. There is a ton of history there! After the landing we went out to lunch and back to the airport. Two hours later we were back in Savannah! Total trip time -ten hours. Total flight time- 4 hours. Flying rocks!

[Ironflight]

Just gos to show you how access to private aircraft can open up the possibilities in your world - and the RV makes it even more convenient due to the range and speed! When I left console last night, the weather forecast was about as good as I had ever seen, so I was really surprised when I woke up and we wee landing - KSC area weather has a way of not sticking to the forecast. Glad it held out for you Todd!

It's the gulfstream that is modified to fly like the shuttle. My guess is the next pilot is practicing his approach in a real world environment.

Actually, that is the Chief of the Astronaut Office flying the STA - they do weather Recon right up until we make the Go/NoGo decision, and then they loiter in case we need any additional info on local developments. They fly down the approach to gather precise data on what the winds were doing - every landing of the Shuttle is still part of a test program, and we do a lot of data analysis after every one. Truth data from the STA computers helps immensely with that.

Paul