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  Photo of the week 457 (July 27, 2013)

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Author Topic:   Photo of the week 457 (July 27, 2013)
heng44
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Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001

posted 07-27-2013 01:15 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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Astronauts and NASA officials sign their names in wet concrete during the Apollo 7 awards ceremonies at the LBJ ranch on November 2, 1968. Left to right are Sam Phillips, Director of the Apollo Program; Bob Gilruth, Director of the Manned Spacecraft Center; Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walt Cunningham. LBJ is leaning over Schirra's shoulder.

Cozmosis22
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Posts: 968
From: Texas * Earth
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 07-27-2013 03:10 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Cozmosis22     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hope it wasn't ole Lyndon's big idea to have these guys kneel down and play in that stinky concrete? Wonder what ever happened to those slabs?

Headshot
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Posts: 864
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012

posted 07-27-2013 08:46 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Headshot   Click Here to Email Headshot     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Wonder if LBJ had the crew of Apollo 8 do the same thing after their flight?

heng44
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Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001

posted 07-27-2013 09:16 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
He probably had this done by VIP visitors to his ranch.

mach3valkyrie
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Posts: 719
From: Albany, Oregon
Registered: Jul 2006

posted 07-27-2013 11:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for mach3valkyrie   Click Here to Email mach3valkyrie     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Wonder if they became part of a "Walk of Fame" sidewalk or patio at the ranch.

Cozmosis22
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Posts: 968
From: Texas * Earth
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 07-27-2013 01:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Cozmosis22     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Guess those concrete slabs could still be there somewhere. That ranch area is huge including the first airstrip located at a president's home. Capable of landing Air Force One, the mile long strip and hangar was used over 70 times as the president flew home often, spending about a quarter of his 5 years in office working there.

Looks like a road trip is in order this summer. Will head out there and look around as much as the Park Service will allow, make some face-to-face inquiries and take some pics.

Henry Heatherbank
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Posts: 244
From: Adelaide, South Australia
Registered: Apr 2005

posted 07-27-2013 06:26 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Henry Heatherbank     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
"Capable of landing Air Force One." Of course that designation is held by any aircraft in which the President is travelling at the time, although these days everyone immediately pictures the modified blue and white Boeing 747.

What was Air Force One in the 1968 - a Boeing 707?

Did LBJ's ranch really have a strip capable of handling such a large aircraft? (If so, then wow!) Or are we talking about a smaller aircraft that happened to be called Air Force One when shuttling LBJ to and from the ranch.

Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 07-27-2013 06:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The Air Force One that flew out of LBJ's ranch was a 13-passenger JetStar VC-140 Lockheed plane, tail number 612490.

Since 2010, the JetStar has been displayed at the ranch.

Johnson had a Boeing 707 as his primary Air Force One but it was too large to land on the 6,300-foot asphalt airstrip.

Headshot
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Posts: 864
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012

posted 07-30-2013 11:46 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Headshot   Click Here to Email Headshot     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
These are referred to as "Friendship Stones." There are about 250, some of which are still displayed by LBJ's Texas White House. LBJ and his staff did not keep an inventory of them.

The Park Service's Inventory list is somewhat incomplete as it does not include Gilruth's or Eisle"s name. Maybe they could not find their stones are were unable to read those names as the list has about half a dozen designated as "unreadable."

The list does include Conrad, Gordon, Bean, Glenn, Shepard, Grissom, Carpenter, Slayton as well as Mueller and Webb.

Spacefest
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Posts: 1168
From: Tucson, AZ
Registered: Jan 2009

posted 08-20-2013 07:33 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Spacefest   Click Here to Email Spacefest     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Col. "Brandy" Brandstetter, former owner of the Las Brisas hotel in Acapulco has quite a collection of these.

He was a good friend of the Apollo guys, who would stay at Brandy's seaside resort for free. His collection was without peer.

All times are CT (US)

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