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Posted on 08/21/2013 10:22:02 PM PDT by EveningStar
Former shuttle commander C. (Charles) Gordon Fullerton, veteran of two space missions who also flew NASA's B-52 launch aircraft and was one of only two non-Russians to fly the Tu-144 supersonic transport during a legendary 50-year career, died Wednesday. He was 76.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Please ping me to aviation and aerospace articles. Thank you.
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RIP.
RIP Gordon. You and your fellow compatriots are real heroes. Thank you for your service to the nation. Too bad NASA’s Manned Exploration programs died before you, you lived to see it crumble, sorry.
SALUTE
Gordy was considered the best pilot by his peers,the other astronauts assigned to the MOL program,the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory. This was in the mid 60’s. MOL was cancelled in 1969 and He and a few others went on to fly shuttle. I flew with him in a T-39 from LA AirForce Base to Patrick AFB one time. I was the MOL meteorologist.
Met him once, helluva good test pilot, and did some extremely risky stuff. Remember reading he participated in a program where an F-15 had its control surfaces fixed, and it had to be landed using engine thrust/modulation alone.
Thank you sir...
Mr. Fullerton flew my Dad on the KC-135, many times during his stint as Test Director of the Zero-G Office at Ellington AFB/Field/Airport...
I had the privaledge of flying twice with Gordon as the Left Seat and he flew wonderful parabolas!!! Very precise, long periods of Low-G and Zero-G for the experiments I helped to support in the back...
It was also fun because my Dad and I both shared some time with some really neat people, and Gordon was one of those unassuming types that could do such a fantastic job, and then we’d go to Pe-Te’s across the street for some real Cajun BBQ...
Those were great days!!! And they (and Mr. Fullerton) will be sorely missed...
‘Flying coffin’ glider pilot from WWII gets overdue Bronze Star
Little known are the 6,000 World War II glider pilots who were towed into combat zones, in a one-way flight to drop off soldiers and supplies. Bob Swenson, 90, of Bellevue, finally is getting an overdue Bronze Star medal for his heroism.
By Erik Lacitis
Seattle Times staff reporter
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WWII glider pilot Bob Swenson, 90, shares old photographs at his Bellevue home. Swenson was belatedly awarded the Bronze Star.
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LINDSEY WASSON / THE SEATTLE TIMES
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There is something about guys like Bob Swenson, who for two days back in World War II took part in a heroic mission. Bodies were on the ground, gunned down by the Germans.
Swenson is now 90, retired as a bank analyst for the state and living in Bellevue. He’s very low-key about how earlier this month he finally got the Bronze Star for bravery in action on March 24, 1945.
He was a pilot on a glider sometimes nicknamed “The Flying Coffin.” It was an unwieldy flying crate that carried up to 15 men on a one-way trip. It’s hard to imagine the nearly 49-foot-long things flying, but they did.
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2021630149_gliderpilotxml.html
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