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Author
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Topic: [Photos] Landing on Shuttle Landing Facility
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Russ Still
Member Posts: 535
From: Atlanta, GA USA
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-19-2004 07:44 PM
   
I had a meeting with Jim Kennedy, Kennedy Space Center director, yesterday for a story I'm working on. I landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), something that is pretty astonishing.I think most of the pics are self explanatory. Obviously, that's the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in the top left of the first one. The runway is 15,000 feet long and is 300 feet wide. It is huge. I flew the whole thing looking thru the viewfinder of a camcorder. I'll have video of the approach and landing on my website soon. The guy I'm talking to is Jim Kennedy, KSC director in his office in the NASA HQ building, right next to the O&C Building (where the astronauts do their walkout). The T-38 was getting ready to leave for Houston. Didn't recognize the astronaut by sight. Oh, and yes, I did have the power all the way off, with full flaps and nose pointing straight down.  
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Russ Still
Member Posts: 535
From: Atlanta, GA USA
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-19-2004 07:45 PM
 
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Russ Still
Member Posts: 535
From: Atlanta, GA USA
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-19-2004 07:47 PM
 
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randy
Member Posts: 2176
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 11-19-2004 08:04 PM
Cool pics! Thanks for sharing them with the rest of us! |
Ben
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted 11-19-2004 08:08 PM
Great pics, that's awesome!How did you manage to get permission to land on the SLF?! |
tedc
Member Posts: 123
From: Renton, WA USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 11-19-2004 11:29 PM
Thanks for sharing. Always great to see pictures of the KSC. |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 11-20-2004 12:20 AM
Don't remember what show this was, but it had the STS-62 crew, and I remember that after landing, they painted a mark on the runway with '62' next to it; don't know if that was the nose gear on the main landing gear (presumably its the nose gear if they're measuring how far the shuttle rolled out after landing.)Am I imagining this or do those hash marks exist? |
Scott
Member Posts: 3307
From: Houston, TX
Registered: May 2001
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posted 11-20-2004 12:24 AM
Thanks Russ. Great pics. |
Rob Joyner
Member Posts: 1308
From: GA, USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 11-20-2004 01:59 AM
Great photos! I'll bet that was quite an experience!I've only had the pleasure of seeing the runway from ground level during the NASA Up Close Tour at KSC. Thanks, Russ! |
Russ Still
Member Posts: 535
From: Atlanta, GA USA
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-20-2004 07:59 AM
Glad y'all enjoyed them. It was a lot of fun. Another fun part was when I called the Peachtree-DeKalb tower for takeoff from Atlanta. "Peachtree tower. 42742 instruments to Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility." You know I just had to say the whole thing. |
Gilbert
Member Posts: 1328
From: Carrollton, GA USA
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 11-22-2004 11:41 AM
Russ, cool photos. |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 11-22-2004 12:28 PM
Is the Boeing 747/Orbiter mate-demate device on that location? I guess they only have one of those structures in KSC (the other at Edwards AFB)? |
thump
Member Posts: 575
From: washington dc usa
Registered: May 2004
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posted 11-22-2004 01:15 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Hart Sastrowardoyo:
...they painted a mark on the runway with '62' next to it
They do paint marks on the runway for where the gear stops on the runway, not sure which gear they use though... |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 11-22-2004 02:43 PM
Glad to know I wasn't imagining it! of course, I'm sure there's some ribbing on who made the shortest landing and who made the longest landing.... |
Russ Still
Member Posts: 535
From: Atlanta, GA USA
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-22-2004 03:00 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Philip:
Is the Boeing 747/Orbiter mate-demate device on that location?
Yes, Philip, the mate/demate facility is about 100 yards to the left from where we parked. The nose of the Cessna is pointing at it. You get a quick look in the video as I was taxiing up. |
Rizz
Member Posts: 1208
From: Upcountry, Maui, Hawaii
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 11-22-2004 03:01 PM
Great shots Russ!The image of the shadow of your 'spacecraft' is a classic! Did you have to deploy your chute?  |
november25
Member Posts: 646
From: Douglas, Isle of Man, UK
Registered: Feb 2004
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posted 11-22-2004 04:53 PM
Russ, just looked at your post — great pics there. Is it a 152 or 172 type plane? I had flown over KSC on several occasions doing my cross-country for my PPL License. Love the cessna, but now I fly a PA28 Warrior. It's a wonder that the military ATC lot didn't stop you flying, since when I did it the guys in the tower told me I had to get special permission. Well done friend. I am impressed. The Cessna is a joy to fly, but a little cramped at times regarding movement? Will have to try what you did next time I hire a plane in Florida. Or will I get stopped? |
Russ Still
Member Posts: 535
From: Atlanta, GA USA
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-23-2004 10:34 AM
Thanks Rizz and Brenda. It's a 182 and is plenty big inside. You can even squeeze between the seats into the back. And yes, I suspect you would get stopped. |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 11-23-2004 01:42 PM
That must have been a neat entry in your logbook — what's the "airport code"? KSC? SLF? |
Russ Still
Member Posts: 535
From: Atlanta, GA USA
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-23-2004 07:19 PM
The airport identifier should be KSC, but those unimaginative bureaucrats called it X68. Go figure. You might be relieved to hear that some of the "intersections" around the facility have names like "moon," "earth," "stars," "comet" and "astro." I can hear the controller now: "Report inbound from Moon." |
Mike Dixon
Member Posts: 1397
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003
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posted 11-24-2004 12:39 AM
Russ, there's a very valid reason for that port allocation code .... I've e-mailed you offline with some detail. |
tegwilym
Member Posts: 2331
From: Sturgeon Bay, WI
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 11-24-2004 01:16 PM
That is really cool Russ. I'd love to get that strip in my pilot logbook! |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2912
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 12-04-2004 01:00 PM
Russ, congratulations on your amazing feat of flying into KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF)! The first time a plane ever landed on the SLF was on May 21, 1976 when then-KSC Director Lee Scherer, while piloting a twin Beechcraft (NASA-6), made two "touch-and-go" landings on the 3-mile strip to test approach and landing techniques. The second plane to do so was piloted by KSC Deputy Director, Miles "Mike" Ross, also at the controls of a twin Beechcraft. Scherer was KSC's second Center Director while Ross was the Spaceport's first Deputy Center Director. From those first two landings in 1976, Russ, it might be interesting to know how many other private pilots like yourself have had the unusual opportunity to land a non-government and/or non-military aircraft on the orbiter landing facility. Maybe not too many, huh (should I check it out if interested)? The SLF at NASA's Kennedy Space Center was also dedicated an an outstanding civil engineering achievement by the American Society of Engineers in March 1978. Nice going, Russ! |
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