Bill agrees and recently told me that seeing photographs of Space Gliders puts him in mind of the opening titles on the old Six Million Dollar Man TV show.
Bill explains:
"Steve Austin, apparently a test pilot is seen in various shots matted together with actual footage of lifting body test flights, a HL-!0 is visible and an M2-F2 appears and seems to be the vehicle responsible for Steve Austins near fatal crash.
I remember at school we'd often run about the playground in imitation of these scenes shouting"I'm breaking up, I'm breaking up! "before crashing in a heap on the grass. At the time, this was all pure science fiction TV adventure (especially the later episodes with the ridiculous Bigfoot!).
But if you watch the actual crash sequence again, it was highly likely that the unfortunate pilot of the plane was probably killed or at least seriously injured as the lifting body comes down hard and is seen to roll and break apart rapidly.
On a lighter note, I've attached some pics of my glider collection - the C21 Space Glider and 2001 Radio Control model, C21 Dyna Soar, Spacex Lifting Body (having suffered several bad landings, reconstruction and recovery) and the Hover Space Glider (missing nose 'spike').
Bill"
The real pilot was Bruce Peterson. He wasn't killed but was seriously injured, losing the sight in one eye apparently.
ReplyDeleteLifting body aircraft are among my favorite. Great shot Bill
ReplyDeleteAha - Bruces injuries seemingly influencing the mythical Steve Austins. The series was inspired by Martin Caidins Cyborg filmed as Who?' another good film
ReplyDeleteAnd M2F2 wasn't too damaged, being rebuilt as M2F3 with the extra dorsal tail to avoid the the circumstances that led to the crash in the first place.
ReplyDeleteBest -- Paul