Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1707958
Paul_Sengupta wrote:
Irv Lee wrote:In the documentaries that I've done long dips into this week, ... I haven't heard any mention of the Godfather of it all.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun


Really? I've heard him talked about in three documentaries this evening alone!


On the History Channel right now (Sky 130) "New: The moon landing and the Nazi". Will be on +1 (channel 230) at 23:00.
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By imperialsam
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1707979
The ‘Chasing the Moon’ series (available on iPlayer) has quite a bit about von Braun and his role in it, and several clips from contemporary interviews with him. No mention of Peenemuende explicitly, but there is a bit of background on the V2. It’s well worth a watch.
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By joe-fbs
#1708000
A long and impressive life.

"created the concept of NASA's Mission Control and developed its organization, operational procedures and culture"; that is a legacy to leave the world. We certainly try to apply it to our own flight test organisation, as do as far as I can see many other flight test teams.

His book is highly recommended.
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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1709377
If you ever wondered how they kept in touch with the mission while they were in low earth orbit before the trans-lunar injection burn, or during re-entry, they did it with aeroplanes:

By David Viewing
#1709401
Von Braun wrote an autobiography published before Apollo 11 which we had in the school library. A couple of quotes remembered over more than 50 yrs:

"Spaceflight might have progressed differently if the laws in England had not prevented the construction of amateur rockets in that country"

and

"I look forward to a re-useable spaceplane that can fly to orbit and land back at the launch site. I hope that I will travel on that plane one day"

I don't know the exact title of the book and despite a lot of searching have not been able to find it. It might have appeared in about 1965. Ideas, anyone?
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By Genghis the Engineer
#1709443
Co-incidentally, I just finished reading this last night. A very remarkable woman, and a powerful story. It's actually pitched towards younger teenagers but, who cares - it's the lady's own words, and tells you a lot about the world this was going on from. In many ways, it was a very far from pretty world.

Image

G
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By Genghis the Engineer
#1709451
David Viewing wrote:Von Braun wrote an autobiography published before Apollo 11 which we had in the school library. A couple of quotes remembered over more than 50 yrs:

"Spaceflight might have progressed differently if the laws in England had not prevented the construction of amateur rockets in that country"

and

"I look forward to a re-useable spaceplane that can fly to orbit and land back at the launch site. I hope that I will travel on that plane one day"

I don't know the exact title of the book and despite a lot of searching have not been able to find it. It might have appeared in about 1965. Ideas, anyone?


This one?, 1967, various reviews refer to all the personal notes by WvB....

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDe ... 1-_-title4

G
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By joe-fbs
#1709511
Marvellous film. No voiceovers, talking heads or modern perspectives, just an hour and a half of awesome footage with the original voice and sound recordings. Some slightly intrusive music but not ruinous. Great job by the filmmakers.
Paul_Sengupta liked this
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By skydriller
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1710093
Genghis the Engineer wrote:Co-incidentally, I just finished reading this last night. A very remarkable woman, and a powerful story.


Is that the lady featured in the recent movie? I thought it was quite a good...