X-15

Yesterday, I was visiting Throwaway Blog, where Dmarks posted about the top ten (in his opinion) spaceships, real of imagined, to honor the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. I felt that he left out the (IMHO) coolest rocket plane ever, the X-15.

Launched from under the wing of a b-52, This plane quickly accelerated to unimaginable speeds of up to Mach 6.7 (4,520 mph). It also had the ability to ascend to altitudes as high as 67 miles (50 miles officially qualifies as outer space). This unique, ahead of its time rocket plane was nearly twice as fast as the SR-71 Blackbird, and almost as cool looking. Niel Armstrong was one of the first pilots of this amazing craft.

When my son and I were in Washington, DC. I snapped a few pictures of the first one ever to fly, which is on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

General characteristics
Crew: one
Length: 50 ft 9 in (15.45 m)
Wingspan: 22 ft 4 in (6.8 m)
Height: 13 ft 6 in (4.12 m)
Wing area: 200 ft² (18.6 m²)
Empty weight: 14,600 lb (6,620 kg)
Loaded weight: 34,000 lb (15,420 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 34,000 lb (15,420 kg)
Powerplant: 1× Thiokol XLR99-RM-2 liquid-fuel rocket engine, 70,400 lbf at 30 km (313 kN)
Performance
Maximum speed: Mach 6.70 (4,520 mph / 7,274 km/h)
Range: 280 mi (450 km)
Service ceiling: 67 mi (354,330 ft / 108 km)
Rate of climb: 60,000 ft/min (18,288 m/min)
Wing loading: 170 lb/ft² (829 kg/m²)
Thrust/weight: 2.07

Washington Monument and the Capitol

This picture was taken from the steps of the Jefferson Memorial.

This, the most phallic of all monuments, is befitting the "father of our country"

A cool civil war battle scene on the Capitol grounds...

Dad and Derek near the Capitol steps...

Theodore Roosvelt Memorial

This memorial is a little hard to get to. It's a good three or four mile walk from Arlington, on an island in the Potomac that is closed to all but foot traffic. It is a wildlife sanctuary, which is fitting for the greatest conservation president. I have always been very fond of TR. I'll let his own words on the tablets below speak for themselves.

Iwo Jima Memorial

Just down the road from the gates of Arlington you will find the USMC Memorial. It is a brilliant work of art and holds a special place in my heart as two of my uncles are Marines. I come from a family where military service is practically expected as the price of being a free American. We did it proudly and with a joyful heart. Many times people have said "thank you for your service" upon finding out that I am a veteran. I am slightly embarrassed and don't feel right saying "you're welcome". I just say " I didn't do it for the thanks, but thank you for recognizing it. I did it because I love this land where I am living my life." My uncle Ray Nicol served in Nam and was wounded there. If you want to thank someone, thank someone like him. He would probably just say " It was nothing".

This is the west side of the statue, facing away from the street. The indian, Ira Hayes, is the man whose fingers are not touching the flagpole.

This is the east side, visible from the street...

detail of the south side...

a close up of the man in front...

Uncle Ray, it's like they had you in mind when they wrote this. Semper Fi!

Arlington

Taking the Metro on an eight mile ride under the Potomac River is a very convenient way to see Arlington National Cemetery and the USMC (Iwo Jima) Memorial. The most striking thing about Arlington is the sheer size of it. Thousands of graves that stretch for acres and acres. While one does not have to be killed in battle to be interred here, one must either die while on active duty, have retired from the U S military, or be the spouse of a qualified veteran buried here. Alas, my bones will never lie here.

This is the standard headstone.

These are the graves of JFK and Jackie, along with young son Patrick, and a daughter...

This is the grave of brother RFK nearby...

This is the home of Gen, Robert E. Lee, whose land was taken to make Arlington. He would have to see the death that he wrought...

From Gen. Lee's front porch you can see the Lincoln Memorial dead ahead, and the Washington Monument off to the right. At the far right is the Jefferson Memorial. Between them lies the Capitol...

The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns (soldiers from WW1, WW2 and Korea, and Viet Nam).

Jefferson Memorial

If you look at my last few posts, you will see that all of these monuments are very close to each other and I have posted about them in the order that you see them as you walk from place to place. Bring good walking shoes! All of the posts that you have seen so far were all done in one day.

As you walk down the lane from the FDR memorial, you see this impressive building...

From the front the memorial is reminiscent of Monticello...

The statue of Jefferson is every bit as impressive as the statue of Lincoln, although, somehow, the seated Lincoln seems to have a little more "gravitas"

Somehow, with the revelation of Jefferson fathering children with the slave, Sally Hemmings, these words ring hallow. Yet they are great words. Jefferson is surely a flawed, but great man. Much like William "Jefferson" Clinton...

Truer words were never spoken...

What can I add in commentary?

I leave the rest to your comments...

FDR Memorial

I liked this tribute to FDR very much. It is laid out so the you walk through it much as you would go through a museum exhibit laid out over several rooms. It is very understated, yet thought provoking at the same time. Each section highlights a different stage in the history of his presidency.

FDR in the waning days. Again, political correctness strikes. This statue is based on a photograph where FDR has a cigarette (in the classic style black holder) that was one of his characteristics. I don't like the way that history has been "airbrushed" to more fit our modern ideas of what's correct and acceptable.

This should serve as an admonishment to the golden parachute boys running Wall St. and wrecking our economy.

Will a figure emerge to set things right again?

Eleanor is honored with a life sized statue of her own. Truly she was one of our greatest first ladies.

Lincoln Memorial

Okay ladies and gentlemen, this is the show stopper- The figure of Lincoln is amazing! He looks like he is going to get right out of that chair. The north wall is inscribed with the Gettysburg Address, the south wall the Emancipation Proclamation.



This beautiful temple is a re-imagined homage to the Temple of Zeus, in the ancient Greek city of Olympia.


Unlike the Zeus, Honest Abe would easily be able to stand without tearing off the roof...





Possibly the greatest speech ever written, at least in America...


To me, anyway, this statue was very ominous, kind of creepy. You feel like Lincoln is looking right at you ...


The preserver of our Union looks across the Reflecting pool at the obelisk honoring its creator...

Korean War Memorial

This was not my favorite one, but was directly across from the Vietnam memorial. All of the soldiers have that thousand yard,

lifeless stare...

Vietnam Memorial

These photos of the Vietnam Memorial were taken later in the day after visiting the WW2 Memorial. It is north of the Reflecting Pool, between the WW2 and Lincoln Memorial.

These life sized figures face the wall at the entrance...

This is the wall as you move past the figures. These people, like me, came to remember friends, neighbors, loved ones...

Lawrence "Larry" Poet is the person that I came to remember. He was the son of our next door neighbor, Ralph Poet. He was three weeks shy of his nineteenth birthday when he was killed. I was ten years old.

Washington DC:World War Two Memorial

What a wonderful trip I had with my son, Derek in Washington, DC. The last time that I was here was well over thirty years ago when I was in the fifth grade. The mall has changed a lot since then, as well as the security at some of the sites.

The White House is completely unapproachable. I remember taking a tour bus right in front of it then, but now you can't get within a quarter mile of it. A shame.

The Capitol can be viewed from the outside, but you have to send a letter to your congress person for tickets to go inside. In fact, I happened to sit next to my congressman, Thaddeus McCotter (R- Livonia, MI) on the return flight. He was very friendly and told me to stop by his office before my next trip and that he'd make sure I got some passes to come in.

I'm going to be making a lot of posts on this trip as I saved over 300 photos (and took nearly 1000) during the five days that we spent there. I hope that you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed this trip! Click on any of the photos for a larger view.

This is the base of one of the flag posts that surround the memorial. It has the emblem of every branch of service at its base.

Located directly between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, the World War Two memorial pays homage to both the founder and preserver of our great union. This is the view looking to the west...

...and to the east...

This quote is from the famous "Day that will live in infamy" speech. I must say that I am amazed that the final four words from FDR's speech "SO HELP US GOD" were omitted (in some misguided attempt at political correctness, I suppose).

This arch to the south represents the Pacific Theatre. Its identical northern counterpart represents the Atlantic theatre.

These eagles laying a wreath are inside the arches.

There are 4,000 gold stars. One for every 100 lives lost in the war.

There is a column for every state and territory of America during the war. This one is from my home state.

A photo of my son, Derek, my the fountain.