So every first Thursday of the month in Seattle, almost all of the museums (and there are many, people have lots of $$$ here, and they're weird . . . I'm talking to you Paul Allen) are totally free. I haven't really taken of advantage of this little perk as much as I should but last week we went to the Museum of Flight. I saw planes that had cozy wood paneling on the interior . . . but the door looked like it was yanked from a trailer park. Um, a really scary helicopter that looked like it belonged on a Wyle E Coyote cartoon as it crashed to bottom of the canyon. Also, a whole gallery of WWI planes with an Italian plane made of either adobe or a really hard pizza crust, it was hard to tell. Wait a second, some a capella group just started singing here in the QUIET library and although they are lovely, they really need to be quiet. I'm trying to work on my blog, I mean, write my thesis. Shhhhhhhhh! Anyway, And WWII planes, and the best part . . . an SR71 Blackbird!
Or rather, a Lockheed M-21 Blackbird (apparently my fruit snacks from 1987 lied to me). That puppy was built from just paper and pencil and something called a slide rule. Everything had to be designed from scratch (new fuels, new electronics, new body design, new materials) in order to withstand the ultra-high temps of operation. Get this, the fuel had to be melted in order to be loaded into the body of the plane and the plane had to be heated to 100 degrees (C? F? K?) while on the tarmac. The plane would drip drip drip fuel because of all the gaps in the body. Then, when it took off, the plane would heat up, expand, and seal everything tight like unto a dish. Huzzah! Good work 1950s! Other good things about the 1950s? Look at these aviators. Yowzahs.
Basically if you come to Seattle, come here, it's cool. It also impressed upon me the fact that if we as a civilization ever lose our computers, it's over. We can't do what they did 50 years ago since we're only used to GUI interface. This has increased my desire to use my internet connection to learn important things while I still can. Of course I refer to canning vegetables, gardening, and sewing. Or, I could just ask my mom. That doesn't sound right but she knows how to do all that stuff plus fix everyone's AV issues in 710 so I'm just saying that she's incredible. My parents, another thing the 1950s got right.
Or rather, a Lockheed M-21 Blackbird (apparently my fruit snacks from 1987 lied to me). That puppy was built from just paper and pencil and something called a slide rule. Everything had to be designed from scratch (new fuels, new electronics, new body design, new materials) in order to withstand the ultra-high temps of operation. Get this, the fuel had to be melted in order to be loaded into the body of the plane and the plane had to be heated to 100 degrees (C? F? K?) while on the tarmac. The plane would drip drip drip fuel because of all the gaps in the body. Then, when it took off, the plane would heat up, expand, and seal everything tight like unto a dish. Huzzah! Good work 1950s! Other good things about the 1950s? Look at these aviators. Yowzahs. 
Basically if you come to Seattle, come here, it's cool. It also impressed upon me the fact that if we as a civilization ever lose our computers, it's over. We can't do what they did 50 years ago since we're only used to GUI interface. This has increased my desire to use my internet connection to learn important things while I still can. Of course I refer to canning vegetables, gardening, and sewing. Or, I could just ask my mom. That doesn't sound right but she knows how to do all that stuff plus fix everyone's AV issues in 710 so I'm just saying that she's incredible. My parents, another thing the 1950s got right.
3 comments:
You forgot one of the best lessons; the Russians could never build as cool of planes as we did. Thats why in a cold war with no winners or losers, we were the winners.
You are sooooo right Tomas. That's definitely what I learned from the docents. That the Russians weren't as cool as we were. And that they sold us all of their "useless" titanium at basement prices (tee-hee!).
Ooh, and let's not forget the ultra-frightening skin-tight mesh flight suits those poor Russian pilots had to wear. I bet all the other kids at international flight school picked on them.
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