What were you doing 45 years ago today ?
 

... While Apollo 11 was blasting off from Cape Canaveral taking Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins to the Moon ...

16th July 1969 ... a very long time ago ...

I still think that it was rather poignant that Neil Armstrong took in his Personal Preference Kit a piece of wood from the Wright brothers' 1903 airplane's left propeller and a piece of fabric from its wing.

For me ... Rushing home from school to watch everything the BBC was to broadcast ... where good old Dad had bought our first colour TV to mark the event ... Great shame most of the NASA live mission video was still B&W :(

I was in elementary school, in science class, watching the lift off on a black and white TV.

It was a big deal to us then. :ok:

Not today but the 21st, for the first moonwalk. The Yanks think it was 20th, but we zulu timers know better. Also it was my 38th birthday and goodbye to the RAF after 20 years.

Probably watching 'Mary, Mungo and Midge' at my age!

Was at school. Mother got me up to watch it in glorious black and white with the words, "this is history so watch it"

I did Hong Kong to Changi that day on my No 5 Course westabout Belfast Global Trainer, and we'd seen all of the strange NASA KC-135 variants positioning as we'd crossed the Pacific during the days beforehand.

I was 18 months old, so probably chewing a rusk!

Watched every bit of the fantastic event on the excellent BBC coverage! Also, moved my cardboard spacecraft along the map of the trajectory as they went (was that a Sunday Express freebie?).

OAP

What were you doing 45 years ago today ?
 

Flying as copilot for 5hrs and 40minutes in Vulcan XM607 out of RAF Waddington.

Davef68,

You were probably doing exactly the same as the astronauts were doing - filling your nappy!

I was Station Commander at STCRU RAF Holbeach - as a Pilot Officer! It was a holding posting between finishing the NBS course at Lindholme and starting the Vulcan OCU. I even attended a Station Commanders' Conference at HQ 1 Gp, RAF Bawtry.

Watched the takeoff at Akrotiri, caught up with the flight in Luqa and watched the landing at Tik-Tok's pad when we finally arrived back at Wyton,
Regards, Den

IF phase on the JP at Syerston! 1.00 Dual with .40 mins simulated in XR 648.

Fortunately my QFI (Fg Off "Mitch" Mitchell) was a living-in singlie, and as we'd both stayed up to watch it on the Mess TV (possibly with a can or 2 :confused:), he was aware in advance of the excuse for my worse than usual performance!

Must have recovered quickly (after a proper night's sleep) cos I passed my IRT (White Card!) on the 17th ......

Stationed at Ballykelly observing Ben Twitch to check for rain.

Oh! how easy that was Shack:D:D
Regards, Den.

3 months old - At the peak of my budding astronaut career...

I was at primary school and used to watch it on the TV before going to school and then when I got home, we watched the landing and walk at school.

My primary school was in a little village outside Carlisle and looked out over the fells and you could just see the towers of the spadeadam rocket test site.. I used to see the smoke / steam rising, hear the rumble of the engines running and you could feel it.. So it was an immersive time for me space wise.

SF that is excellent..

45 years ago?......
 

...grumbling about off the north coast of Northern Ireland in a Shackleton for 9 hours and 5 minutes on a torpedo evaluation sortie.

Where did it all go to?

The Ancient Mariner

Log book says:

Gnat TMk1 XP511 Self Broadhead Air Test 0:50

Shame on me, but I can't remember who Broadhead was.

Had recently started Commercial Pilot training at College of Air Training, Hamble - course 692B.

Just checked the logbook and did my first flight there a few days later on the 22nd July 1969.

A very memorable time!

Being seconded to the RMAF, I was watching the events unfold, sitting on my porch in Petaling Jaya with a can of Tiger beer.

Organising the move of the Canberra squadrons from Watton to Cottesmore

Living in a tent near Dinkleberg ,North Germany on Exercise Whirlygig to keep the Russian hordes away and flying 6.20 hrs that day in the ever faithful Wessex; after a few beers that night and curled up in my sleeping bag believe I was not even aware of this momentous event . Bit sad really......

At barely three weeks old...Not a lot.


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At Uni on my RAF University Cadetship - a member of MUAS (before Salford was included to muddy the scene).

Holding MPC Valley waiting to go to Chivenor! Getting into loads of trouble with the visiting Lightning Squadrons junior pilots! Happy days:ok:

Watched it on a very modern black and white telly at RAF Halton, ( I think we were allowed to stay up), back to the mundane the following day, filing bits of metal and thinking that the moon was probably a more hospitable place than the 1 Wing Apprentice blocks.


om15

On holiday with some mates on the Italian Med' coast - trying to get laid - watching the launch on the hotel telly. I'm not sure when we left, but I remember sharing the driving in a Renault 4L, flogging the thing along to get home for the landing.

Got back to London just in time to hear that they were opening the LEM door....... Wow! It really was history, wasn't it?

Roger

Clearing Coltishall on my last duty day of 9 years in the RAF. I still had 2 months to the nominal date, but accumulated terminal leave and release courses covered that.


Watched the moonwalk in the met office at Upavon where I went to spend the weekend gliding.

Gestating in my dad's scrotal sack.

Can't remember today but I can the moon walk as was woken up by my parents and sat in front of the TV to watch it.
Not sure what time it would have been in the UK but it was night.

Buzz Aldrin came to my school and gave a great talk and got a signed photo from him which I still have.

Flying Combat Assaults along the Cambodian Border in Vietnam. No TV or Newspapers but heard about it over a Tactical Radio in response to someone listening to BBC on the HF Radio.

It was Years later before I got to see it on TV.

Amazing what Humans can do when they get stuck in on something.....talking about the Space flights.

Having had the great pleasure of meeting Jim Lovell and listening to his account of his Trip around the Moon was a chance of a Life Time.

Btw, in case you have never been, the National Space Centre at Cape Leicester is a good day out, especially if you have kids as they have a lot of activities for them to try.... Adults too.

National Space Centre - Homepage

Watched the mission on the new Colour TV we had 'bought' from Rediffusion. Looking forward with some trepidation towards January and the start of my RAF Career at Halton. (217th Entry)

I can't remember the exact day, but I would have been looking forward to the School summer holidays and my very first trip abroad shortly thereafter and my very first aeroplane ride to boot.

We were going to Basle, ultimately Badgastein in Austria, from Heathrow and it was a B.K.S. Britannia.

On the day of the flight we arrived in the Wallace Arnold coach in time under a puter sky. Once in departures it was one delay after another, we eventually got airborne in darkness then we had to weather abort to Geneva, that suited me fine arrivning there about midnight. My parents and other adult passengers I don't believe were too impressed but my Brother and I were making the most of being up all night running around the spacious virtually empty terminal building.

When dawn came, we were able to sit outside the front doors looking across the pan and I recall a Swissair Friendship or Herald screaming away as it taxied in followed by a VC-10, not much long after we were away in a perfect sunrise over the Alps on our way to Basle!

And you try telling the young folk today that, and they won't believe you!:ok:

FB:)

GSU ride with Bill Gibson out of Waddo in XM 600. It went OK despite the previous late night watching history unfold.

As a Craft Apprentice (214 Entry) at RAF Halton. I, like many of our entry enjoyed being given the "nod and wink" that we could break "lights out" and watch TV coverage of Apollo 11 in our TV room in Kestrel Flight, 2 Wing. On the night of the landing, I did my first "all nighter" and surprisingly, no beer, just a feeling that I was witnessing history, even through a TV set. Blimey Coff, was it really that long ago, how we have regressed since then, we can't even manage a supersonic airliner these days.

Smudge:ok:

I was sailing in Hickam Harbor in Hawaii with a young lady. We got back to the dock just in time to watch the landing on the little TV in the office.

My dad always said I should have been shot into space...

Watching it on my B&W in Durham Flat 3, downtown Bahrain.