posted May 24, 2011 07:57 AM               

I also liked the idea of the individual pictorial envelopes used to dispatch each of these patches. A touch of real class!

posted May 24, 2011 02:19 PM               

The LM-1 patch is certainly original but was likely produced at KSC, not Bethpage and only ever existed as an embroidered patch. As such it does not fit directly in the set I produced.

The LM-3 patch is still something of a mystery. I've never seen a decal or print of any LM-3 artwork so it's not part of that set. Maybe it was produced at the time by someone but I'm not 100% convinced. The fact that it's a very crude design doesn't help its case either.

There's also the LM-13 patch which I'm pretty sure is a modern 'fantasy' creation. I've certainly not seen a vintage decal or print of the design.

posted September 23, 2011 07:51 AM               

Anyway, the small LM-3 patch was indeed produced by Grumman mainly for their workers here at Kennedy. My sources are coming from retired Grumman lunar module checkout and test team members, that I am still in contact with and have known for years.

Indeed, the original triangular-shaped yellow-red-blue patch is extremely hard to come by (I only have 2 of them) and it would appear that most Grumman/KSC workers do not have them either.

posted September 23, 2011 09:41 AM               

It appears to be a vintage patch, and although the rather crude design does not form part of the series of LM insignias produced by the Grumman teams working at Bethpage it may possibly have been produced by a Grumman employee based at the KSC.

posted September 25, 2011 01:45 AM               

We all know your LM set is based on the decals and prints created at the Bethpage plant, but I think the LM decals, prints and patches created at KSC are just as important, not only to us but to the worker for Grumman at the Cape at the time, who did fantastic work getting all the flight LMs up to spec.

You just have to look into the background of the flight LM to see the good work their people did to get them to the ready for the moon, and it would be a pity to miss them out just for working at KSC, would it not?

posted October 31, 2011 06:19 AM               

The author of the book is Joshua Stoff, who as of the book's printing in 2004, is (according to the back cover) author of sixteen books on aviation and space history [and] curator of the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island. The back cover also says that "the book includes many never before published photographs from the extensive archives of the Cradle of Aviation Museum".

This lends support to the idea that the LM-13 insignia was real. (Although why wouldn't it have flown on Apollo 18, not 19 as it asserts?) Evidence, not proof - but given the proximity of CAM to the former Grumman facility, it's more compelling than if it came from some other source.

posted February 19, 2012 10:10 AM               

Congratulations on doing such a fantastic job!

posted March 06, 2012 08:29 PM               

Getting that Apollo 5 replica (which is fantastic and virtually indistinguishable from the original) sort of marks my 1st anniversary on this site! It has been a great year, including that view I had of STS-135 coming in, silhouetted against the lightening sunrise as I stood out there at the Wildlife Refuge HQ entrance... I saw my first, and last, shuttle landing up close. Unforgettable.

posted March 07, 2012 09:39 PM               

As for the envelope, the art appears to be a thematic tie-in to Chris' crewpatches.com website design, rather than specific to individual patches as he's done to this point.

posted May 26, 2012 11:51 AM            

I was real waiting for this one. I have collected one Apollo astronaut's autograph per flown mission and framed it starting with Apollo X together with the matching Lion Brothers patch and your Grumman replica patch (for the Apollo 7 and 8 missions I had a Lion Brothers and 25th Anniversary patch to have two patches framed with the autographed picture).

Thanks for doing the LM-3 patch! - I have ordered one for me right now and I will frame it together with Rusty Schweickart's autograph...

posted May 27, 2012 04:05 PM               

Glad you decided to do this one also, and I have ordered mine.

IF it's possible, could I request a special envelope for it, and maybe also for the LM-1 from last year if you have any now available (I was one of those who didn't get one with that patch when it was sent...)