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Reunion sparks memories of unusual resaerch vehicles
X-Press Editor A picture of Joe Walker, including his signature, was on the table in the back room of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. Next to it was a Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) flight manual. To the left of that was a report on modifying the LLRV into the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle. Also on the table in the Lancaster office was a guide to handling hydrogen peroxide, which fueled the LLRV's reaction control jets, contracts for the LLRV, reports, procedures and photos. People who were a part of the LLRV Program met Oct. 15 at the Society of Experimental Test Pilots' office. They recalled what it was like to work on the innovative and odd project, which gathered research to contribute to the development of the Lunar Module that Neil Armstrong piloted to the surface of the Moon. About a dozen men returned to share their knowledge for an upcoming book on the LLRV for the NASA History Series. Three men intimately familiar with the LLRV are writing the book together. They are Gene Matranga, a LLRV program manager, Cal Jarvis, LLRV control system engineer, and Wayne Ottinger, who was the project engineer for flight operations on the LLRV and the technical director from Bell Aerosystems on the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle. Dryden Historian Dill Hunley also is involved with the project that is funded by a grant awarded to Ottinger's Lancaster-based PAT (Preservation of Aerospace Technology) Projects Inc. On Oct. 30, 1964 ñ 35 years ago ñ Dryden chief research pilot Joe Walker flew the first flight of the odd aircraft, which was nicknamed the "flying bedstead." Elmer Smoogen, a General Electric engineer, said he remembered in the early days of testing the LLRV. The vehicle flew over the South Base ramp area and the force of the thrust from the LLRV caused a manhole cover to shoot up from the ground. The men reminisced about the LLRV as they watched film of some of its flights. Many of them remember the first flight was shaky as the LLRV wobbled off the ground. In addition, they recalled how the wheels that were originally on the LLRV were removed after 11 flights, making the LLRV a bit less unnerving to land in crosswinds, said Jack Kluever, an Army pilot who flew the LLRV. Kluever said he liked Dryden legend Joe Walker and he remembers the first time he had suggested that Walker fly a helicopter a few times before it came time to fly the LLRV. Walker didn't think there would be much to helicopter flying, Kluever said, but Walker was white-knuckled during his first helicopter flight. That was on a Thursday. "On Friday there was no Joe. On Monday there was no Joe. Joe was so disturbed by the helicopter flight that he went to Naval Helicopter School. In a helicopter you have to wait for the reaction compared to a jet fighter and it takes technique to come in slow," Kluever said. Kluever said flying the LLRV was a lot of fun, but required a lot of anticipation because there was a time lag between imputing commands and getting results. As an Army helicopter pilot, he was used to a 5 percent tilt during flight. However, the LLRV tended to fly at angles of about 30 percent tilt, he said. Former NASA pilot Don Mallick flew the most flights of the LLRV program with 79 of the LLRV's 204 research missions. The configuration of the LLRV had the pilot out in front of the jet engine and made the pilot feel "out there in space all by yourself," Mallick said. Mallick, who had been a naval aviator prior to his Dryden experience, said that the LLRV flew like a helicopter in that it took off and landed vertically. A gimbaled jet engine lifted the LLRV to the desired altitude and then the engine was throttled back to support 5/6th of the vehicle's weight to simulate the Moon's gravity. A series of reaction control jets then adjusted the attitude of the vehicle to the one the pilot wanted and permitted a gradual descent. The gimbal on the main engine kept the thrust directed perpendicular to the ground. "On my first few flights, I felt like a train engineer trying to coax this big locomotive into flight, rather than start it down the tracks," Mallick said. The LLRV program went well at Dryden, but "On a major failure, there were few steps on the emergency checklist that came before ñ PULL THE EJECTION HANDLE," Mallick said. The LLRVs had the same number of landings as there were takeoffs at Dryden, Mallick said. However, he said he had confidence in the Weber ejection seats that later in the program saved three pilots. "I had special feelings in July 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin touched down safely on the Moon. It was mostly pride in being part of the LLRV Program," Mallick said. |
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Responsible NASA Official: John Childress For questions, contact: Dryden Web Group Page Curator:WD-Team Modified: October 28, 1999 |
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