03-03-2019, 10:15 PM
MrNoBody wrote:
Anyone remember the Boeing 2707, SST that never was...
my BIL was an engineer @ GE on the design team for the GE4 turbojet engines
intended to power the beast.
Remember it? I had a reservation on it! The night Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, PanAm was handing out "reservations" to ride on the "Space Plane" they expected to have in the future. This was in NYC's Central Park in a steady rain storm. Most people braved the weather and, stayed in the park where huge screens had been set up for the expected crowd to watch and experience this historic event. It was an AMAZING night! :oldfogey:
PS: my dad started as a Flight Steward with PanAm just after WWII broke out (a hernia was found during his induction physical on 12/8/1941. The Army inducted his two older brothers but, my dad needed to get the hernia repaired and, a clean bill of health for six months after said repair. Dad got a job with PanAm as a Flight Steward. When my dad went back to the Army, at some point, it came out that dad was Flight Crew aboard PanAm's Clipper Ships. Dad was told that he couldn't enlist in the Army because he was already part of the Navy (crewman on Flying BOATS)! After Basic Training, dad was commissioned as a U.S. Navy Ensign and, promptly shipped to a seaplane base in Canada! As a Petty Officer, the Canadians assigned him a "batman" (valet, which somehow pissed him off) and, some time later, he got promoted to Lieutenant and reassigned to a seaplane base in the Carolinas. He desperately wanted to "get across the pond" to where his brothers were fighting but, he couldn't catch a break (much to my mom's relief). After the war, he was still a Lieutenant while his oldest brother made Sergeant and the middle brother was a regular "grunt" (but they all survived). Being the youngest brother with the highest rank remained a sore point for the oldest brother for the rest of his life. All my dad ever wanted to do was to follow his big brothers into the Army but, fate had different plans. Had my dad still been alive when PanAm received their first "Space Plane", he would have been aboard as a Senior Flight Purser. Dad died before PanAm (otherwise, that would have killed him). My dad had 46 years seniority with PanAm when he died and, was PanAm's most senior Flight Check Purser. Dad, I hope you're smiling as I write this; I sure am!