posted 10-26-2014 09:43 AM
   
Work commitments meant I was unable to join Fred Haise in Pontefract until Friday morning. I missed the school visit. But over breakfast he recounted events that had clearly touched him. The children aged 5 to 7 had taken to Fred as if he had been their granddad — making him a birthday cake and swarming around him like ants, hugging his legs, waist and hands. The reception prompted Fred to say "I wish I could transport 100 million Brits to the US, such was the warmth of the welcome and the interest in the space program".An interesting plan but one that Fred had to concede was a bit tricky, not least because we don't have 100 million Brits in the UK! Even if he emptied the place he would be around 30 million short! Fred talked readily about his family and home life, hunting, fishing and food but as breakfast was served it quickly became evident black pudding was not a favourite! An aspiring thespian at school Fred earned himself the nick name of "Pecky" after landing the plumb role of a woodpecker in a school production. He then trained and worked as a journalist before stumbling almost in to aviation and the space program. On leaving NASA he gained a degree in business studies before embarking on a successful career in industry with the Grumman Corporation. Anybody eaves dropping could be mistaken for thinking Fred to be was some kind of "Good 'ol boy" hick from the Deep South but to do so would be a mistake. Fred wears his southern persona like a cloak or veneer that masks a complex, highly accomplished and successful individual.  Wentbridge is a beautiful part of the world. Fred took time out to enjoy a walk taking in some historic sites, an old English church and the stunning Yorkshire countryside. The dinner went extremely well. It was a tad warm in the bar but I suspect much of the heat was down to the excitement generated when a rumour circulated that Brammers (Gliderpilot) was going to buy a round. Sadly, the rumour turned out to be a Chinese whisper. The auction this time round was particularly successful raising a record sum of £4,500. All of the proceeds will go towards funding the next event in April 2015. One final auction piece, a limited edition print by Alan Bean, raised an additional £500 for UNICEF.  Day two was lecture day. Fred's apparent penchant for trouble is a familiar story. Apollo 13 and a serious plane crash in 1973 are well documented. Perhaps less well known is that the entire Carleton Community High school (venue for the lecture) was burned to the ground in the days following Fred's last visit to Pontefract in 2008. Perhaps I should have anticipated some difficulties and so it proved, though thankfully on a smaller scale. When the AV guys setting up the theatre tested Fred's video presentation we discovered that the overhead projector, bolted to the ceiling had been moved. As a consequence a lighting gantry cast a castellated shadow across one fifth of the screen. The projector platform was fixed and the lighting gantry could not be moved any higher. "Pontefract, we have a problem!" With an energy and efficiency that would have made Gene Kranz and Glynn Lunney proud, Joshua Ruckledge and a fellow throbber from the school spent 40 minutes cranking down the gantry, removing, replacing and redirecting 14 spots before successfully reinstating the gantry. But the technical issues did not end there. Just as Fred entered the theatre, the image behind him somehow "popped" casting a ghostly veil across the projection significantly diminishing the quality of the image. Then to cap it all, minutes in to the talk, Fred's headset and mic packed in! Not one, not two but three technical faults in quick succession. Where is Sy Liebergot when you need him?!  But in true "Top Gun" fashion, Andrew Macdermott (OWL), who acted as Fred's wingman for the entire event, sprang in to action. He promptly plunged his hands down the back of Fred's pants! Andrew later explained that the battery pack and transmitter were in the waistband of Fred' trousers but I am not convinced. Whatever he was up to in there his hands must have been warm as it prompted a huge smile from Fred and a roar of laughter from the audience. Not surprisingly, Fred talked a lot about Apollo 13 and the shuttle drop test program. Team work was a theme throughout; a theme extending to the specialists that treated his graphic 65% percent burns that resulted from the crash in '73.  Thankfully, we had no more technical issues and the rest of the talk went smoothly. Learning from previous events the Q&A was much longer this time and the support guys with the cordless mics stayed out of the way as they moved amongst the audience. Once again "Proffoto" did a great job getting the photo shoot pictures ready for the signing. Fred may have been to Pontefract previously but that served only to heighten his popularity. For Ken Mattingly earlier in the year we needed three tables to lay out the mounted and cellophane wrapped photos; for Fred we needed five! Space Lectures is always keen to learn from each event in order to make the next one better still. One thing the organisers WILL take from this event is that future guests will have to stick to a signature only policy. Fred is a great guy, relaxed beyond belief and willing to go the extra mile to please everybody that comes to see him. We agreed beforehand that if people wanted a mission dedication added to the signature it was cool. Fred took that to mean that EVERY signature would have a mission dedication. Like Alan Bean before him, Fred's signature was slow and deliberate. The last signature of the evening as good and crisp as the first but at the expense of time. Despite employing the same marshalling techniques that worked so well for Alan Bean and Ken Mattingly it took two and a half hours to complete the signing... instead of the one hour forty seen previously. True, the whole process was still a darn site quicker than the last time Fred came to Pontefract but it was still too long and will not happen again. I would like to apologise to the last four rows or so that did not get the mission inscription but Fred had to be in Manchester that evening and we were running behind. We had no alternative but to restrict the final few rows to a signature only. Sorry guys! It was great to see so many familiar faces, young and old (Eddie) from the collectSPACE community. Way too many to list and I must also apologise for the brevity of most of the encounters. My two days in Pontefract flew by as if a blur. I only wish we had had more time to stop and talk at length. Ken Willoughby has asked me to pass on his thanks and appreciation to everybody that supported the event and attended. He would like to thank his "A" Team for their support and organisation and above all Fred Haise for agreeing to come.  As for next year's speaker Luigi Pizzimenti certainly came dressed for the part. But I'm sorry Luigi, Space Lectures already has their next guest in place... for April 2015. Eileen Collins will be making her first public appearance in the UK and she has no plans to appear elsewhere on these shores. I don't have accurate figures for ticket sales at this time but already the figure of 300 for the lecture and 75 for the dinner has been mentioned. Ken certainly had a large queue of people wanting tickets as they left the theatre. It is going to be another excellent event. Roll on April 2015. | 
and that Kite performed his duty as delegated official in a most satisfactory manner. Rick was his usual towering presence and that he did wear his obligatory white socks.
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