A NASA Love Story
Aviation relentlessly pulls at my heartstrings…
We all have stories to tell. Our journey is laced with memories; the happy and painful; the warm and cold. The ones with kids are my sacred and cherished ones. There are memories we bury, those we avoid and then there is that one where you find yourself wishing you could revisit as it is one of the happiest places and it unfolded in perfect timing and rhythm. I compare it to the aligning of the moon and stars, where all is exciting and right with your world.
This story began when I was 8. It was rural California farm country, San Joaquin Valley. I have never understood where my obsession with aviation came from. There was no one in my family circle that had cast an aeronautical spell of influence. I do know that it was enchanting laying on the front yard in the summer sun, skies absent of clouds and somehow I fell for the sound of an engine in the wild blue, the image of a jet steam trail that seemingly would make its way from one edge of the world to the other. There were reciprocating engines; those sounds that came from a low flying Thrush crop duster or a 4 passenger Bonanza making effortless lazy 8’s in the sky. Then there were those that I knew were the Boeing 727 jets flying passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles. I was envious. My long anticipated first flight wouldn't happen until I was 17. Until then, my imagination was wild. Anything with wings, a fuselage and an engine had my attention. It was odd at the time for a girl to be enamored with a hunk of flying metal that smelled like Avgas or Jet A fuel.
My family origin was an eclectic mix of the mid-west and deep south. As a kid we would visit relatives in all states from southwest to southeast, Texas to North Carolina and Florida to midwest Michigan, by car. The colorful experiences spending days in the dark olive 1969 Chevy Impala. For most of them, I was traveling with sisters, mother and grandmothers; there was story telling, laughter, radio station battles, mood swings, some disagreements, roadside picnics, Stuckey’s candy and gas stops, sight seeing and countless mom-pop motels. One of those memorable adventures was to the Kennedy Space Center. It transformed me to another world with mouth dropping awe. Towering buildings, where equipment, tools, technology and massive humming computers in huge gray metal cabinets lived. There was the command center (where Apollo missions were guided) , NASA close circuit TV, vessels on display of space missions past, stately gold metal milestone plaques on every wall, Apollo launch pads, and guided tours. The cherry on that sundae were tarmacs of chase planes and test flights in perpetual motion. It was my happy place and little did I know then that NASA was in my future.
My first flight, no surprise, was to spend a summer with extended family and a cousin I dearly loved, in the deep south. With the ticket in hand I couldn't contain my excitement and floated on callendar countdown air until I boarded. My itenerary was San Francisco California to Tampa Florida. The first take off was me falling in love with a gripping, incomparable sensation; the bottoming-out gravity pull and that indescribable moment where landing gear separates from the asphalt runway. At that single point in time, one becomes dependent and must surrender to the engineered components of fuselage, empenage, wings, engine, landing gear and all of the carefully designed puzzle-pieces that make that airplane travel worthy.
It was early in my senior year at high school, the place where most 17 year olds are grappling with creating some simile of a life plan. Aviation was at the core of my near future but I was clueless on how to get there. I once was told by a counselor that I didn’t have what it took to be pursuing a degree at a reputable 4 year university. Not having the self esteem or confidence then to dispute that life changing philosophy, I had decided that I needed to follow the dream in a different way. While I would go on to earn degrees, I have never regretted Airframe and Powerplant school. Much to my proper southern mothers’ surprise, I chose an aviation maintenance school with a stellar reputation and was one of 2 females in a class of 22 men. I had to get tough, step up fast and prove myself or be laughed out. There was perpetual gossip from students and instructors alike about “there are no girls in aviation maintenance”. I got dirty overhauling a Continental 0 200 engine. I learned hydraulics, pneumatics, fuel and electrical systems, how to weld, wrench and pre-post flight. I began hanging out at the airport with the aviation minded and it felt like home. I washed planes of all types, fueled, ran engines, taxied, parked, did pre/post inspections for work on the side. I got on board whenever there was an empty seat and an invitation. I’ve never had a fear of flying or proving myself to those who doubted me.
Six months into A&P school we had a recruiters visit from Edwards Airforce Base, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center located in California’s Mojave Desert. Edwards AFB is the mecca of all things with wings; Dryden Flight Research is credited with multitudes of flight firsts and the monuments of those historic milestones are everywhere. It remains today the test, research/development, engineering design, squadron, bomber and weight/balance/fuel/maintenance hub. The base is over 300,000 acres, and includes Rogers Dry Lake bed with 65 square miles of natural usable surface, perfect for landing any aviation marvel in any situation. The recruiters that day were looking for internship candidates and I couldn't get in line fast enough. I paid the price for being eager fending snide comments and laughter from my fellow male students. In the end being selected stirred the masculine entitlement pot and it put strain on my student life in the aviation program.
Navigating NASA Internship wasn’t an easy journey. It was a highly classified process, with a months long background investigation. The competition for those positions was grueling; it took more and more proving of myself as a female in a 1980’s predominately male industry and it was exhausting. Even though my grades through A&P school were better than most in the class, I was critically evaluated for smarts and stamina. There was always judgement and it was easy for others, inside and outside of the program, to accuse me of simply being on a quest to find a husband.
The Antelope Valley in California is pure aviation alchemy. At that time it included Burt Rutan an engineering design genious (who co-designed with NASA the airplane in the photo, AD-1 Oblique Wing; also to his credit he designed the homebuilt EZ line, was the engineer responsible for the 1986 Voyager record ‘continous flight around the world’ and The Virgin Atlantic Flyer), sky sailing (gliding), Mojave Air Races, Hot Air/Weather Ballooning and of course The Space Shuttle program. Then there was the military side of endless research and development, squadrons of F-4's,the B-1 new models, and the SR-71 missions never got old. NASA had an impressive modified B-52, an F-15 Eagle and a DC3 Goonie Bird that I myself spent airborne time in and the priviledge of a few landings on Rogers Dry Lake Bed. F-104’s and T-38’s were used as chase planes in addition to a dozen or more test aircraft. I had made it. I was a maintenance crew member for NASA and there was something new everyday. I’ve never looked more forward to the next work day as I did then. It was a indescribable high.
Being a crew member means dirt and grime, smelling like Jet A fuel or hydraulic fluid, working in the darkness of midnight on a tarmac under a desert star lit sky or out before dawn often times with high desert winds, sun and rain. I loved every minute. There were times that it was so harsh and hot that in order to fend off dehydration they handed out salt pills. At the heart of it all, is the air worthy craft beauty that makes all of the extreme elements, late nights and early rises worth it plus millions more.
I was the 12th person to run engines in the AD-1, primary crew on a extensively modified Lockeed Jet Star, applied composite Shuttle test tiles on an F-15 Eagle. When they opened both ends of the massive hangar doors, I was trained to secure, care for and hold the Gossamer Albatross to keep its balsa wood construction from lifting off the floor due to high gusting desert winds. The Gossamer Albatross was powered by a titanium and composite bicycle and set records as it was flown human powered over the English Channel setting records in June of 1979. We had F-104 Starfighters that were used as chase planes (collecting data and photo ops of test subjects). Today, an F-104 (that I helped wash & fuel on several occasions) and the Gossamer Albatross now hang in the rafters for all to see at Air & Space museum at Seattle Field. Everytime I visit the museum I treasure my little secret that for some moments in time I cared for these beautifully engineered wonders that have amazing stories.
The epitome of this story was the Landing of The Columbia Space Shuttle, April 14, 1981 on Rogers Dry Lake Bed, first mission and landing historic milestones. It was a day like no other. I still have the souvenirs; the badge that I was issued to be on the VIP tarmac, a stack of various newspapers from the area and time, photos and a commemorative program and menu from the 12 hours of partying at the Antelope Valley Inn complete with signatures of chase plane pilots from the mission. Coors sponsored that momentous event, we all happily drank beer, clelebrated, danced and were priviledged to view the entire mission from launch at Cape Canaveral, in space all closed circuit video and reentry to the touchdown in the Mojave Desert. It was huge in the history of NASA’s Space program and it will always be unforgettable magic to be a small part.
I continued with aviation for many years beyond my experiences with NASA. I went on to work with Army rotor wing (Hueys, Black Hawk, Apache and Bell). From there I went to commercial aviation and while my love of aersospace will never falter, big corporate commercial America has lost its focus of what really matters. Its the history, engineering, technology and being air and space borne that matter for future generations.
I am over the moon that Space X and NASA continue the quest; I have followed all that they’ve created from the start and staying tuned for what comes next. I still get the same thrill whenever I hear the overhead sound of an engine, see breaking news over a launch, or I hear news that NASA is moving forward and beyond.
It was admiration for anything airborne.
