Flight Deck Podcast

Episode 12: She Opened Up the Skies A faceless mannequin wearing a 1920s’ style dress is posed next to our Boeing model 40B, but it’s not just there for show. The mannequin represents Jane Eads, the world’s very first transcontinental commercial airline passenger. In 1927, when she was just a 21-year old journalist, Eads rode in a 40B on a mail route from Chicago to San Francisco. Back then, the journey took 22 hours. Her vivid descriptions about her experience in the air led to more people gaining an interest in flight at a time when airplanes were still being perfected. The plane she flew in was not equipped with pressurization or climate controls, so Jane and the pilot were directly exposed to altitude and temperature changes during the flight. This week, we talk to Docent Zandria Hopper, who explains how Eads’ trip helped “solidify aviation’s potential to do what the railroads had already been doing to guarantee people could get from point A to point B.” See the Boeing model 40B, and the Jane Eads mannequin, up close next time you’re in our Great Gallery. While you’re there, brush up on the first 100 years of flight by checking out the Wright flyer, the Lockheed Model 10E Electra, and the Blackbird M/D-21 spyplane! http://www.museumofflight.org/explore-the-museum/museum-galleries/great-gallery Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Sean Mobley Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

Back in 1977, when Bob Alexander was just a young engineer, he was chosen to work on a challenging new project: the Hubble space telescope. During his ten years on the project, Bob—now a Museum volunteer—advanced to the level of supervisor and recalls that with all the experienced engineers working alongside him, designing the Hubble was a pretty smooth operation. This week, we’ve tapped Akshay Murthy, a student at Tesla STEM High School in Bellevue, to do the interview because of his passion for aerospace (thanks Akshay!). Akshay asks Bob about his thought process in designing high-tech instruments like the near-field camera 3, the cosmic origin spectrograph, and the multi-object spectrometer, and Bob gives his insights about what he calls “the finest scientific instrument ever built.” Next time you’re at the Museum, come see the Hubble telescope replica hanging above our Space Gallery. Host: Sean Mobley Guest Host: Akshay Murthy Producer: Keny Dutton Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

Episode 10: Do Airplanes Have Keys? This week we talk to Kevin Gordon, first officer for Alaska Airlines, who graciously answers questions that our listeners have submitted via social media. Do a pilot’s arms get tired after flying all day? And can they watch movies during their flights? Gordon answers these queries and explains that the titles captain and first officer, which many mistake for pilot and co-pilot, stem from military traditions and denote levels of responsibility in the cockpit. The captain is first in charge, and the first officer holds secondary responsibility for the aircraft. Gordon also offers some advice to those with a fear of flight. When white-knuckle flyers approach him and confess their fears, he says this: “I know I just met you, but I like you already, and I love me; so, I’m going to make sure I get me there, because I want to see my family. You’re going to be just fine.” Want to get your own up-close aviation experience? Head to our Alaska Airlines Aerospace Education Center https://www.museumofflight.org/Education/Educator-Resources/education-center , where you can enjoy hands-on aviation activities, including doing a pre-flight check on our own Cirrus SR20. Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

Episode 9: Surviving the Final Frontier Did you know that for every month you spend in space, you lose about 2% BMI? Neither did we until we talked to Tommy Gantz, one of our volunteers and resident space experts. Over the years she’s spent a lot of time studying space travel and life aboard the International Space Station, and has developed a deep respect for anyone who travels to space. Gantz admires astronauts—“They remind me of the first great aviators”—but maintains that she’s not nearly brave enough to spend that much time in space, especially given the harsh physiological consequences that result from extended periods in microgravity. Join us as we discuss what it takes for human bodies to survive the final frontier and how space station experiments can result in miracles of modern medicine. Want to learn more about life in space? Check out our Charles Simonyi Space Gallery next time you visit! http://www.museumofflight.org/explore-the-museum/museum-galleries/space-gallery Correction: Mark Kelly is the name of the former NASA Astronaut. Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

Episode 8: The Angel Bird Hustling in and out of a Huey helicopter is one of the most vivid memories of Platoon leader David Waggoner and crew chief Jerry Sousa: it took 10-15 seconds to load and unload the helicopter, and their journeys took them to hot zones where they were vulnerable to enemy fire. The Huey and those who flew in it were fearless, reporting to every call no matter how dangerous, and ended up transporting over 90,000 soldiers during the war. Ultimately, Waggoner and Sousa want listeners to know that Huey pilots “fought against the odds to save soldiers’ lives,” and they look forward to sharing more stories about Vietnam by giving tours in our new exhibit. See our Huey for yourself in our new exhibit, “Vietnam Divided: The War Above Southeast Asia,” opening Saturday May 26. http://www.museumofflight.org/Exhibits/Vietnam-Divided-War-Above-SE-Asia Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Keny Dutton Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

Episode 7: Remembering Apollo Astronaut Dick Gordon Dick Gordon passed away in November 2017, and author and volunteer Jake Schultz had the honor of recording Gordon’s oral history few months prior to learn about his experiences as an astronaut. In this episode, Gordon talks spaceflight, corvettes, and football. He recalls the differences between the Gemini and Apollo missions. Gemini’s Titan II rocket was an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) designed to get you into orbit as fast as possible at altitude and then shut down. The Saturn V rocket on the Apollo mission, however, was a different kind of ride. “It shook, rattled and rolled,” Gordon describes. Gordon, a Seattle native, also fondly recalls bonding with his crew—Pete Conrad and Alan Bean—over their three red Corvettes and taking on the role of the Executive Vice President of the New Orleans Saints after his space career. Get a taste of what it took to put a man on the Moon in our Apollo exhibit(https://www.museumofflight.org/Exhibits/Apollo) and stay tuned for info about Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission, an exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. This traveling exhibit comes to our Museum in 2019. Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Justin Braegelmann Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

Episode 6: The Personal Courage Series: Shouting at Hitler Show Notes: In this second installment of our Personal Courage series, B-17 pilot Dick Nelms takes us on one of his missions and shares how he and his comrades dealt with fear and other realities of war. From a young age, Dick loved planes and when the time came to participate in the war effort, he knew he wanted to fly. And it’s a good thing he did: his 35 missions contributed to the final Allied victory. Dick looks back on his time in the B-17 and is proud of “putting a dent in Hitler’s war machine.” Get more first-hand accounts of aviation history with our oral histories program. http://www.museumofflight.org/Collections-and-Research/Current-Projects/3251/digitizing-the-american-fighter-aces-oral-histories Email our Curator if you’d like to access an oral history: curator@museumofflight.org Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Justin Braegelmann Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla

Episode 5: When We Chose to Go to the Moon How did a bunch of Houston high school students help President Kennedy drive the United States towards putting a man on the Moon? In September 1962, Bob Salling, one of our docents, was pulled out of school along with tens of thousands of other Houston high school students to hear a speech by President Kennedy at Rice University. Salling remembers that “a lot of people didn’t like Kennedy, a lot of parents didn’t like Kennedy, and by extension their children didn’t like Kennedy”; but, Kennedy’s words about space exploration got Salling and his peers so excited about the possibility of going to space that they forgot their prejudices. The speech would become a rallying call for the space program in the United States, and in it Kennedy explains that “we choose to go to the Moon not because it is easy, but because it is hard.” "This speech set a deadline for walking on the Moon before the end of the decade, and the excitement it generated kept the space program momentum going through the turbulent '60s." Get a taste of what it took to put a man on the Moon in our Apollo exhibit (https://www.museumofflight.org/Exhibits/Apollo) and stay tuned for info about Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission, an exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. This traveling exhibit comes to our Museum in 2019. Listen to Kennedy’s original speech here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouRbkBAOGEw Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Justin Braegelmann Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla Contact us: podcast@museumofflight.org

Episode 4: A Brief History of Legroom Has your airplane seat felt a little tight lately? It’s not just you—it’s the evolution of legroom on passenger planes, and it’s not getting any roomier. We talk to Marva Semet to discuss how this battle for inches came about. Semet finds that spaces weren’t always so tight on in the early days of aviation, when flying itself was a luxury for the very few. During the 1940s, airlines realized that “the more people they could fit into an aircraft, the better.” Nowadays, airlines consider pitch (the space between a point on one seat and the same point on the seat in front of it) and width in passenger configurations when purchasing planes, and these numbers can be the difference between a comfortable journey and a torturous trek. Step inside our famous passenger planes: the Boeing Model 80-A(http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/boeing-80a-1), the first Boeing 747(http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/boeing-747-121) and the Boeing 787(http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/boeing-787-dreamliner) Dreamliner. Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Justin Braegelmann Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla More Information: https://www.museumofflight.org/podcast Contact us: podcast@museumofflight.org

Episode 3: Galactic Mixtape Vol. 1 What’s on the cassette tape that can be found at the end of our Apollo (http://www.museumofflight.org/Exhibits/Apollo) exhibit? We chat with exhibit developer Peder Nelson to learn more about this mysterious aerospace artifact. The mix tape belongs to the widow of Pete Conrad, who brought it with him on Skylab 1. As it turns out, Conrad was a huge country music fan! In order to uncover the playlist, Nelson had to pay a visit to GT Recording, who was able to access the recording without damaging the cassette. According to Nelson, the joy of listening to the cassette, which has since been digitized and can be heard at the Museum, includes imagining “what it was like to float around the Earth, staring down and listening to Loretta Lynn.” Want to see what it’s like to train like an astronaut? Check out our Shuttle Trainer tours(http://www.museumofflight.org/Plan-Your-Visit/Tours-and-Experiences/Shuttle-Trainer-Tours)! Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Justin Braegelmann Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla More Information: https://www.museumofflight.org/podcast Contact us: podcast@museumofflight.org

Episode 2: WASPs The Women Airforce Pilots did not let anyone stand in their way of serving their country during WWII. These women flew and delivered planes to assist in the war efforts, but their struggles and achievements have gone unrecognized for years. After WWII, the U.S government sealed all documents relating to the WASPs. Our guest Diane Belanger is an expert on the history of WASPs and tells us about their work—ferrying newly built warplanes to be used overseas—and the one of the women who started it all: the formidable Jackie Cochran, who “did not suffer fools gladly.” See an exhibit about the WASPs in our Personal Courage Wing (http://www.museumofflight.org/explore-the-museum/museum-galleries/personal-courage), and watch Diane perform live in our Living History programs(http://www.museumofflight.org/Plan-Your-Visit/Tours-and-Experiences/Living-History). Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Justin Braegelmann Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla More Information: https://www.museumofflight.org/podcast Contact us: podcast@museumofflight.org

Episode 1: The Spacewalker What’s it like repairing a billion-dollar solar panel while hurtling 4.67 miles per second through space? Our guest this week, Scott Parazynski, shares the answer with us as we discuss his experiences as an astronaut, mountaineer, and physician to aerospace icon John Glenn, who he likes to describe as a “space rookie.” As an Eagle Scout, Parazynski understands that accomplishing huge goals—like being an astronaut and climbing Mt. Everest—is the result of completing small steps along the way. Parazynski also explains why it’s worth it to pursue space exploration: “It’s our human destiny to be explorers, to push the boundaries of what’s possible.” Scott's Book, "The Sky Below" available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sky-Below-Story-Summits-Space/dp/1503936694 Host: Sean Mobley Producer: Justin Braegelmann Webmaster: Layne Benofsky Content Marketing Manager: Irene Jagla More Information: https://www.museumofflight.org/podcast Contact us: podcast@museumofflight.org