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Author
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Topic: Photo of the week 683 (November 25, 2017)
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heng44
Member Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 11-24-2017 12:27 PM
   
 NASA test pilot Neil Armstrong suiting up before his first X-15 flight (1-18-31) on November 30, 1960. |
Starfighter1
Member Posts: 95
From:
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 11-24-2017 01:52 PM
Great photo. Never saw that one before. Does anyone know if the boots were connected to the pressure suit somehow? |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 11-25-2017 04:38 AM
Interesting to see the knife holder on the inside left leg... something still present in today's flight coveralls. |
capoetc
Member Posts: 2169
From: McKinney TX (USA)
Registered: Aug 2005
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posted 11-25-2017 06:56 AM
The knife includes a parachute line cutter, which is extremely important if you get a line fouled in the parachute and need to get it cut loose. The line cutter is a hooked blade that is left in the open position when the knife is inserted into the pocket (there is also a blade that is left folded).Most pilots attach a cord to the loop on the end of the knife which is then attached to a grommet on the pocket so that if you fumble the knife taking it out of the pocket while hanging under a parachute the knife will not be lost. |
Joel Katzowitz
Member Posts: 808
From: Marietta GA USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 11-25-2017 07:13 AM
On a less technical note my 4 year old granddaughter asked me if the photo was of Cinderella trying on the glass slipper. |
heng44
Member Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 11-25-2017 08:17 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Starfighter1:
Does anyone know if the boots were connected to the pressure suit somehow?
I don't think so. The suit appears to have "socks" that could be attached with a zipper and the shoes were worn over those. |
Jonnyed
Member Posts: 396
From: Dumfries, VA, USA
Registered: Aug 2014
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posted 11-25-2017 03:17 PM
Zipper socks... that's brilliant.  Perhaps we could apply that broadly across the clothing industry? Socks that don't slide down. |
DG27
Member Posts: 173
From: USA
Registered: Nov 2010
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posted 11-28-2017 04:57 AM
Some of the X-15 boots actually did attach to the suit leg with zippers. As mentioned previously the boot was worn over the pressure sock that was an integral part of the suit.Both the MC-2 suits and the following early versions of the A/P22S-2 style X-15 suits had zippers that ran around the top of the boot to attach it to the restraint layer of the suit leg. The leg of the silver outer cover also zipped to the restraint layer about an inch above the boot zipper. However, later versions of the A/P22S-2 style X-15 suit used boots without zippers around the top. Armstrong wore the MC-2 style suit on his first two X-15 flights. The photo shows him suiting up in the early version of the A/P22S-2 style X-15 suit, so I believe the photo was for a later flight since only the MC-2 suits were available at the time of his first flight. In high resolution versions of this photo you can see the zipper that runs around the top of the boot. The photo also shows the zipper on the end of the silver cover layer which has not yet been zipped to the leg restraint layer. A great photo from the golden age of flight test. I love seeing these photos. Thanks for posting. |
Wehaveliftoff
Member Posts: 2343
From:
Registered: Aug 2001
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posted 11-29-2017 08:35 PM
I never tire of seeing early Neil Armstrong photos. Thanks. |
heng44
Member Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 11-30-2017 10:03 AM
quote:
Originally posted by DG27:
A great photo from the golden age of flight test. I love seeing these photos. Thanks for posting.
...and thank you for the info. |
music_space
Member Posts: 1179
From: Canada
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 11-30-2017 12:58 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Joel Katzowitz:
On a less technical note my 4 year old granddaughter asked me if the photo was of Cinderella trying on the glass slipper.
My guess is that, in her mind and in the thoughts she pondered before asking, the issue was as technical as they come. |
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