January 31, 201313 yr Active Members Anyone here among the 90,002 on the Pan Am reservation list to take a flight to the moon? Are you wondering if your reservation is still good? Even though the Pan Am that was in existence at the time those reservations were taken is no longer, the current owner of the list could resurrect the list if a "commercial" flight were to become available. I have serious doubts any such flight would be on a flag carrier using the name Pan Am but they could "sell" the tickets to such a flight from their list. Similar to one carrier putting customers on another carrier's flights when their flight breaks down, is cancelled or whatever. So, any such reservation may still be good, sort of. Of course, anyone who made such a reservation is now 41 years older than they were then because Pan Am closed the list in 1971. Still, 90,000 people got on it. Best regards, RA1
January 31, 201313 yr Fascinating! Any mention of fares? P.S. "To" the moon. Did they include -- as JFK took pains to specify -- "and returning him safely to Earth?" Details, details!
January 31, 201313 yr Haven't you occasionally taken a rent boy with you to some vacation spot where you knew the native pickin's would be slim?
January 31, 201313 yr Author Active Members There really aren't any details to speak of. Pan Am was "brain storming" about future business and came up with the idea of taking reservations. They were at or near the height of their business existence then and "all things seemed possible". JFK had proposed the effort and Pan Am was just trying to take advantage of free publicity. When we did get there via the Apollo program, there was a sudden enormous interest in going to the moon because it was obviously possible. So, between 1969 and 1971 Pan Am took no money but did make a list of folks who wanted reservations on such a trip. Among the many things that I don't know is whether Pan Am had thought about landing on the moon or just orbiting around it and coming back to earth. The latter would be somewhat easier. Shall we open a list to go to Mars on possibly a Rutan-Branson vehicle? Best regards, RA1
February 1, 201313 yr Author Active Members I want to go to Uranus. Predictable, but funny. Best regards, RA1
February 1, 201313 yr Author Active Members Or, animated cartoon characters? Virtual everything seems to be what is going on now. Best regards, RA1
February 2, 201313 yr Author Active Members I will be glad to take Pluto just as seriously as Mickey did. Best regards, RA1
February 2, 201313 yr Shall we open a list to go to Mars on possibly a Rutan-Branson vehicle? Think I'll wait on that one until Sir Richard himself has ridden it a few times. One thing I do want to experience someday is NASA's Vomit Comet. If Hawking could survive (and enjoy!) it...! Factual correction: Hawking flew on a private flight operated by one Zero Gravity Corp. http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/scientist/stephen_hawking_zero-gravity.html
February 2, 201313 yr Author Active Members Yes, Zero G will fly you in the back of a 727 for a little over $5,000. www.gozerog.com. They travel around the country drumming up business. It appears they will be in Cape Canerveral, NY and Chicago this spring. So, AS, the experience is available and not very far from where you are. All you need is a "spare" $5000 and a R-T ticket to one of those places. Best regards, RA1
February 2, 201313 yr Author Active Members Probably Sir Richard will ride on an early flight. Who can deny they are not using the best and cheapest technology when they use a cork to control the pressurization system on the early vehicle? Best regards, RA1
February 2, 201313 yr Probably Sir Richard will ride on an early flight. Who can deny they are not using the best and cheapest technology when they use a cork to control the pressurization system on the early vehicle? Best regards, RA1 What? Don't they know you are supposed to let a $50 million contract to develop a cork-functional-replicative dimensionally stabilized wide-thermal-range synthetic? They will blow everybody's cover.
February 2, 201313 yr Author Active Members I think the cover was and has been blown (is that a new name for it?). They needed an easy, reliable way to "control" a specific sized orifice. The pilot isn't that busy on the descent so they "invented" the pilot controlled pressurization outflow valve, completely variable in application. The pilot inserts the cork to increase the pressurization and removes it to decrease it. The object is for zero pressurization by the time the vehicle lands. It has worked every time so far. Best regards, RA1
February 2, 201313 yr Active Members LOL, why not just have the pilot put his thumb over the hole? Simplify! Simplify!
February 2, 201313 yr Author Active Members That MIGHT work, although with possible serious injury to the thumb AND the normal time for the cork to be in place in during the vehicle's ascent, when the pilot is very busy. While the Holly Weird depiction of such as Goldfinger being pushed (not sucked) through the blown out window of a Jet Star is not realistic, the forces inside a pressurized vehicle are not to be denied. (Shooting out the window of the Jet Star with what appears to be a 38 Special is also unrealistic.) As you very well know, fooling around with Mother Nature is risky business. Best regards, RA1
February 3, 201313 yr A proposal with a kid pic made me think for a moment there about a marriage proposal... The big V day is coming up...lol Damn! Clearly my proposal wants a bit of a re-think.
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