This Day in Project Gemini

"Me" wrote in message
...
On Mar 18, 6:56 am, "GordonD" wrote:
"Joseph Nebus" wrote in message

...

By the way, today (the 16th of March) turns out to have been
the 50th anniversary of the first Titan II launch!

Speaking of Titan II launches, what is the cause of that banshee howl
that
precedes ignition? It's very noticeable on the 'Project Gemini' DVD set.

Obviously it's some piece of machinery starting up, but does anybody
know
specifically what?

The start cartridges spinning up the turbopumps.



Thank you.
--
Gordon Davie
Edinburgh, Scotland

"Slipped the surly bonds of Earth...to touch the face of God."

On Thursday, March 15, 2012 3:14:19 PM UTC-5, GordonD wrote:

That thing seems horrendously dangerous to me - judging by the Revell Gemini
kit it wouldn't be very stable and all it would take would be a slight bump
in the lakebed to flip the capsule over and send it tumbling like the M2F2.

....I've seen some of the Langley footage of the El Kabong II tests, and it was actually a bit more stable on landing than expected. The Paraglider was intended to be detatched as soon as all three landing gear hit the ground, which was the real source of concern regarding the capsule tipping over. That being said, had it gone into a side tumble, with the gear deployed it wouldn't have rolled over too many times with the gear getting in the way

....Speaking of that kit, tho, has Revell ever reissued that kit with the Paraglider wing that you used to have to send away for? I know they put back in the landing gear parts after a lot of modelers screamed about them being cut from later releases.