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"El Kabong" Gemini parasail landing tests, 1965



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 23rd 07, 02:07 PM posted to sci.space.history
Jim Oberg
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Default "El Kabong" Gemini parasail landing tests, 1965

"El Kabong" Gemini parasail landing tests, 1965


http://www.temple-telegram.com/story/2007/07/23/42334


  #2  
Old July 23rd 07, 08:05 PM posted to sci.space.history
Jeff Findley
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Default "El Kabong" Gemini parasail landing tests, 1965


"Jim Oberg" wrote in message
...
"El Kabong" Gemini parasail landing tests, 1965


http://www.temple-telegram.com/story/2007/07/23/42334


Cool. Knowing the name of this thing allowed Google to find some other
stuff:

http://www.airzoo.org/archive/elkabong/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Zoo

Which finally led me here, high resolution pictures!

http://aesp.nasa.okstate.edu/fieldgu.../elkabong.html

You've gotta love the Field Guide to American Spacecraft.

Jeff
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  #3  
Old July 23rd 07, 08:25 PM posted to sci.space.history
Pat Flannery
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Default "El Kabong" Gemini parasail landing tests, 1965



Jim Oberg wrote:
"El Kabong" Gemini parasail landing tests, 1965


http://www.temple-telegram.com/story/2007/07/23/42334


As far as the name goes, check up on the cartoons of the era:
http://www.bcdb.com/bcdb/detailed.cgi?film=9597
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quick_Draw_McGraw
I assume the idea came about as Gemini swinging down out of the sky like
Quick Draw McGraw on his rope, with the parawing serving the part of the
cape., and the black Gemini and it's windows looking like his masked face.
If you think that concept looked iffy, try this on for size:
http://www.astronautix.com/craft/winemini.htm
http://www.astronautix.com/gallery/cwiemini.htm
Great aerodynamics! :-D
I always thought ASSET was probably a test vehicle for a aerodynamic
MARV warhead.
The concept of a quick-launch manned recoverable spacecraft seemed to be
on a lot of people's minds back then (This concept, Space Cruiser, SAINT II)
I wonder if the mission was to disable Soviet orbiting nuclear weapons
platforms in a covert way.

Pat

Pat
  #4  
Old July 23rd 07, 09:15 PM posted to sci.space.history
Jochem Huhmann
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Default "El Kabong" Gemini parasail landing tests, 1965

"Jeff Findley" writes:

"Jim Oberg" wrote in message
...
"El Kabong" Gemini parasail landing tests, 1965


http://www.temple-telegram.com/story/2007/07/23/42334


Cool. Knowing the name of this thing allowed Google to find some other
stuff:

http://www.airzoo.org/archive/elkabong/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Zoo

Which finally led me here, high resolution pictures!

http://aesp.nasa.okstate.edu/fieldgu.../elkabong.html


Poster with some in-flight fotos:
http://aesp.nasa.okstate.edu/fieldgu...g/IMG_0525.JPG

This is a nice concept. Scale the thing up for a larger crew, add a
hatch through the heat-shield and a service/mission module (as the
russian TKS did), and you have something.

But why did they use skids? With the ability for precision landings you
can land at a runway and use wheels.


Jochem

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longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away."
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  #5  
Old July 23rd 07, 10:57 PM posted to sci.space.history
Pat Flannery
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Default "El Kabong" Gemini parasail landing tests, 1965



Jochem Huhmann wrote:
Poster with some in-flight fotos:
http://aesp.nasa.okstate.edu/fieldgu...g/IMG_0525.JPG

Well, that confirms the Quick Draw McGraw connection.

This is a nice concept. Scale the thing up for a larger crew, add a
hatch through the heat-shield and a service/mission module (as the
russian TKS did), and you have something.

But why did they use skids?


With the ability for precision landings you
can land at a runway and use wheels.


I assume they were concerned about winds making it drift off course
during approach.
They thought skids would be more forgiving on a landing on the desert at
Edwards.
There is also the problem of the tires getting hot during reentry and
exploding.
Dyna-Soar was also going to use skids, as was the Soviet Spiral space
fighter.

Pat
  #6  
Old July 24th 07, 12:18 AM posted to sci.space.history
R.Glueck
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Default "El Kabong" Gemini parasail landing tests, 1965

After it, uh..., landed the first time, I recall Gus Grissom being quoted as
saying, and you really need to put Gus's voice against this quote, "They
want us to land in that thing?"



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  #7  
Old July 24th 07, 12:38 AM posted to sci.space.history
R.Glueck
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Default "El Kabong" Gemini parasail landing tests, 1965

For those who don't remember its namesake, "El Kabong" was the alter ego of
Hanna-Barbera cartoon horse cowboy "Quickdraw McGraw". "El Kabong" was a
Zorro-like hero, who swung down on a rope with a guitar, with which he to
bashed bad guys over the head. At the moment of impact, he would say
"Kabong!"

Now if this sounds lame in 2007, remember that is was 1963 or 64 when the
cartoon was popular. It followed on the heels of the very popular
"Huckleberry Hound" show, which introduced other cartoon heroes, including
"Yogi Bear". Hanna-Barbera was instantly famous overnight, then kept on
runnng extremely diluted off-shoot cartoons based on the originals. For
their time, they were extremely novel programs with the earliest having some
very well written, and funny - truely funny - dialog.

While totally unrelated, I think these cartoons were following to catch up
on the "Rocky and Bullwinkle" programs, which were perhaps the the funniest,
most intellectually pleasing, topical, cartoons of their day. These were
cartoons which didn't talk down to children or adults, and actually required
some literacy to really understand. These were produced by Jay Ward and
Bill Scott.

I don't think anything available today encourages the same literacy required
by these early gems. Couple that atmosphere with the prospect of human
going out into space, and a government drive to get us out into space, and
you have a tiny slice of what it meant to be thirteen, in 1963.




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  #8  
Old July 24th 07, 01:17 AM posted to sci.space.history
Rand Simberg[_1_]
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Default "El Kabong" Gemini parasail landing tests, 1965

On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 19:38:56 -0400, in a place far, far away,
"R.Glueck" made the phosphor on my monitor glow in
such a way as to indicate that:

For those who don't remember its namesake, "El Kabong" was the alter ego of
Hanna-Barbera cartoon horse cowboy "Quickdraw McGraw". "El Kabong" was a
Zorro-like hero, who swung down on a rope with a guitar, with which he to
bashed bad guys over the head. At the moment of impact, he would say
"Kabong!"

Now if this sounds lame in 2007, remember that is was 1963 or 64 when the
cartoon was popular. It followed on the heels of the very popular
"Huckleberry Hound" show, which introduced other cartoon heroes, including
"Yogi Bear".


Of course, now we know that Huckleberry Hound was totally gay.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huckleberry_Hound (control-F "gay")
  #9  
Old July 24th 07, 02:43 AM posted to sci.space.history
Jonathan
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Default "El Kabong" Gemini parasail landing tests, 1965


"Jim Oberg" wrote in message
...
"El Kabong" Gemini parasail landing tests, 1965


http://www.temple-telegram.com/story/2007/07/23/42334



This Time article from 1965 indicated the parasail was for military use
on things like the upcoming manned orbiting laboratory
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...romoid=googlep






  #10  
Old July 24th 07, 07:03 AM posted to sci.space.history
OM[_6_]
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Default "El Kabong" Gemini parasail landing tests, 1965

On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:25:03 -0500, Pat Flannery
wrote:

I assume the idea came about as Gemini swinging down out of the sky like
Quick Draw McGraw on his rope, with the parawing serving the part of the
cape., and the black Gemini and it's windows looking like his masked face.


....From what I recall, that was part of the inspiration. The other one
was the sound the boilerplate made when you hit it - a "kabong!"
sound.

OM
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