40,000 Plus Hits. Thank you all.

On 03 Nov 2003 13:52:05 GMT, (MLenoch) wrote:

wrote:Hey Mary. I built a Rogallo "Bat Glider" of bamboo
and black plastic (with a
lot of strapping tape) in about '68. Ran off a hill side and smashed into a
tree :-)

We did the same thing in '69, but we used duct-tape.........we were funded a
bit more (my buddy had a job)!!

But did you have a Pontiac convertible, modified in Mickey Thompson's
speed shop, to get you into the air? Or a 1943 R4D Gooneybird?

Fortunately there are no trees on the lakebed, but there's a really
funny film clip of the vehicle bouncing around on one or two wheels
until it tips over and the pilot (Milt, naturally) can't reach the
ground or anything and is stuck there until the support crew shows up.

Frank Rogallo was a Langley guy, by the way. This was an all-NASA
effort.

Mary

--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer

Mary Shafer
wrote:But did you have a Pontiac convertible, modified in Mickey Thompson's
speed shop, to get you into the air? Or a 1943 R4D Gooneybird?

No, sorry. Just the quarry at West Lafayette. We ate a lot of scrub
bushes......greens are good for the diet.
VL

Mary Shafer wrote:

wrote:Hey Mary. I built a Rogallo "Bat Glider" of bamboo
and black plastic (with a
lot of strapping tape) in about '68. Ran off a hill side and smashed into a
tree :-)

We did the same thing in '69, but we used duct-tape.........we were funded a
bit more (my buddy had a job)!!

But did you have a Pontiac convertible, modified in Mickey Thompson's
speed shop, to get you into the air? Or a 1943 R4D Gooneybird?

Uhm. No. I thought about a tow but pictured the way my kites would sometimes
whip themselves into the ground and decided against it.

Fortunately there are no trees on the lakebed, but there's a really
funny film clip of the vehicle bouncing around on one or two wheels
until it tips over and the pilot (Milt, naturally) can't reach the
ground or anything and is stuck there until the support crew shows up.

I remember seeing some very inspirational but rather painfull looking films.

-- Charlie Springer

On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 17:05:48 -0800, Mary Shafer wrote:

On 03 Nov 2003 13:52:05 GMT, (MLenoch) wrote:

wrote:Hey Mary. I built a Rogallo "Bat Glider" of bamboo
and black plastic (with a
lot of strapping tape) in about '68. Ran off a hill side and smashed into a
tree :-)

We did the same thing in '69, but we used duct-tape.........we were funded a
bit more (my buddy had a job)!!

But did you have a Pontiac convertible, modified in Mickey Thompson's
speed shop, to get you into the air? Or a 1943 R4D Gooneybird?

Nope, mine was a '67 GTO coupe, modified by the Pontiac NASCAR folks for
the original owner, who was one of their engineers. It was FAST :-)

Al Minyard