Apollo I

[mustangdriver]

I am not sure what you mean. You are clearly as passionate about not displaying it as I am about displaying it. And that is fine. We just agree to disagree. Neither of us is wrong, just viewing two sides of a conversation. That is how learning is done. Cheers pal.

I am not sure what you mean. You are clearly as passionate about not displaying it as I am about displaying it. And that is fine. We just agree to disagree. Neither of us is wrong, just viewing two sides of a conversation. That is how learning is done. Cheers pal.

careful now, I didn't, and don't mean anything negative in a personal way to anyone. Yes, we agree to disagree, but as far as passionate? I wouldn't say so at all. I just think there are better ways, in this case, to honor the fallen. Displaying this CM isn't it IMHO only, but again who am I? ... like I said .... I'm no one, so the powers that be will figure it out. And hopefully the families will have the final say. My only hope is the families will have peace in whatever way the CM is or is not displayed. OK pal? ... friends again? ....

[N3Njeff]

As for the Apollo 15 display, all I can say is that there are changes in the works for it. It's current display has always been temporary. With the new building will come a more fitting tribute to the CM. At this time options are being looked into for the restoration of the panel. I will say as a volunteer that we see alot of interest in the Apollo Command Module.
As for Dale Earnhart, his wrecked number 3 car was on display in a memorial so that fans could come an pay tribute to him. There people left flowers, and messages.
If we wait 100 years there might be nothing left to display. Is that what we should do? Wait until anyone that knew Guss, Roger, or Ed are gone, and then make a memorial? I just don't think that is right. I am passionate about it to say the least.
And if the case is that this is an aircraft someone dies in, we don't want to se it, then we better open the doors of that storage facility and put the red tail P-51 in there along with that Spit. These aircraft are being restored to fly again, and no one has a problem with that, but simply displaying the CM is somehow wrong. The red tail is being restored to fly to honor the pilot, and I agree with it. Would pushing the redtail wreckage into a building somewhere be doing the same? Is that what we should do with it? Why don't we wait 100 years before the P-51 gets to fly?

Sorry but dale's car has never been or ever was on display! After the accident and investigation, the car was placed in a trailer and locked. Its location is unknown. As a long time dale earnhardt fan, 20 yrs from now for that car to show back up would be too soon for me!

[mustangdriver]

I have more pics, but I really don't want to post them if you are offended by them.

Come on now, we all know better than that, first off, that's "a" #3 car, not "the" #3 car. Who in their right mind would be so stupid as to display the "actual" car that Earnhardt died in. It just wouldn't happen. And if it did, I would have nothing but contempt for whom ever decided to do so.

But back to the CM, I completely understand your views on displaying the craft. I guess I'll encourage you to continue your quest to have the module displayed, and knowing you as I have been reading your posts, you have good intentions. I'm beginning to see that you and I have similar personalities. But I'm sure I'm older than you so all I can suggest is that you not become too disappointed when you read others views. God knows I've been there and with my HUGE EGO!!!! .... ugh!!!! ... I have to go pet puppies and eat ice cream to feel better ... hehehe ....

[N3Njeff]

I have more pics, but I really don't want to post them if you are offended by them.

I dont know what pics you have, but the one you posted is not the car he died in. Hens the sheetmetal is not bent.

I know of only 3 pics of the car AFTER is was removed from the track and even those were from the inside of a box trailer.

[rwdfresno]

Have you all seen the totaled cars from the DOA DUIs that law enforcement hauls around to high schools? Now those things creep me out a bit.

Ryan

Have you all seen the totaled cars from the DOA DUIs that law enforcement hauls around to high schools? Now those things creep me out a bit.

Ryan

I'm pretty tight with law inforcement in Santa Barbara and before ANY DOA DUI car is displayed anywhere, there is a mountain of paperwork and liability and disclaimer forms that need to be filled and signed in triplicate before ANY vehicle can be displayed anywhere. What a family says today in grief, can change in a matter of minutes and can cause a lawsuit the size a mountain. But yes I agree, car accidents are as creepy as they get.

[ZeamerB17]

I have more pics, but I really don't want to post them if you are offended by them.

I dont know what pics you have, but the one you posted is not the car he died in. Hens the sheetmetal is not bent.

I know of only 3 pics of the car AFTER is was removed from the track and even those were from the inside of a box trailer.

That car was NEVER displayed! It was covered up with a tarp and hauled away. I have seen a couple pics of the cockpit with the mangled steering wheel and I may have them somewhere.
As far as I know, Richard Childress has it stashed away somewhere, or may have even destroyed it, I've never heard.
It certainly was never displayed, or you could still hear the echoes of the outcry of Dale's fans.

[ripcord]

Is there a difference between a spacecraft and the parts from The Lady Be Good displayed at the NMUSAF? Tragedy is a part of the human condition. Why else are the losses of particular aircraft in wartime noted on the display statistics? The F-105 or A-4 on display may be intact, but noted on the description are the 75% combat losses.......

[Jack Cook]

I remember seeing the bonnie and clyde death car when I was little.
It felt sorta weird

[P51Mstg]

The Lady Be Good represents something else. You need to read the whole story of the LBG. Basically, the airplane overshot the beach where it was to make a turn and flew into the desert. As it was running out of fuel the crew bailed out. There was one man that died when his chute didn't open.

The survivors walked at least 80 miles with one getting 110 miles on a shared total of 1 canteen of water and 2 sandwiches. That was in the desert when the temperature would hit 120+ degrees. I believe they managed to surviive at least 8 days. I think its hard to comprehend what those men went through before they died, but if they had ended up in hell, it would have been a relief from the torture they went through before they died.

The airplane flew on and basically landed itself and was discovered about 15 years later. Then the crew was found the next year, in at least 3 groups. I think that one crewmember was never found.

The LBG represents a person's willingness to survive. None of the parts in the USAFM show any signs of a violent death. The airplane was intact when the crew got out.

My father worked with a man who had gone to the LBG on one of the missions to recover the crew in the early 1960s. He thought it was rough to be in the desert with support, he said he couldn't imagine what the crew had gone through.

Now those guys are real heros.............

Mark H

[N3Njeff]

My personal thoughts.

Tho I can understand that Apollo 1 is a significant artifact of space exploration. I dont see the need to have it on display as a tribute to those 3 men. I do believe that it should be available to whoever might want to look at it in reference to a project as documentation on how it and others were built in the preservation of the history of its kind of spacecraft.

I think for those who were actually close to that project and the famlies to decide.

I will hand it to the rebuild crew of the Redtail mustang. I am sure that they are driven to put her back in the air because I am sure that is what the pilot would have wanted. They are better people than I am.

As everyone knows, if your in aviation long enough, you are going to loose a friend. 2 times in my life, I have lost close friends to aircraft accidents with a company I worked for. Both times I was asked to go in the storage hangar where the airplanes were stored and remove parts from them for the others in the fleet. Both times I would end up taking alot longer than what it should have taken to get the job done and both times I drank a couple extra beers at happy hour after work.

I guess thats just me but maybe some of the launch crew would feel the same way if they had seen it on display.

[mustangdriver]

I don't know much about racing, so all I know is that car was on display in the pics I have. They are all similar, so I didn't know it wasn't "the car". No one is wrong or right in this, but I see no difference in restoring the red tail P-51 or the Apollo I CM. Once again Betty Grissom wanted it displayed rather that hid. That is the key in this. If Betty Grissom said she did not want to see it again, then I would say that it changes the ball game. I would like to know what the families of the other two astronauts think.
Rest assured, I really only have the best intentions with this whole thing. I just want them to be honored correctly. If the families of Ed and Roger along with Gus were wanting to display it, it would be the right thing to do. I really mean no harm with the project.
Jack the Bonnie and Clyde car was in California I think when I was there. The Peterson I think?

[APG85]

Ed White's wife, Pat, passed away in the 1980's...

I believe Roger Chaffee's daughter works at/around Kennedy Space Center (at least she did a few years ago). She was interviewed in a documentary about the fire a few years back...