Neil : If not the very first, Col. John "Babe" Stapp was, indeed,
one
of the very early Rocketsled Riders. The extreme "G" forces were experienced
on both the acceleration and deceleration phases of the runs ..... I very
clearly
remember seeing a photo of him back then : He had two black eyes from
his own eyeballs surging forward at the run's end !!!
Now that's " G " Forces !!! ..... and he was one of many very brave
men in our early space travel pioneering, as was the better-known
"Chuck" Yeager of world record rocket plane history .....the X -15,
I think. As Glen B. mentioned recently, these men were the "Hot Rodders"
of our space program back then . Many young men follow in their footsteps
today ....... who knows how "far out" our grandchildren, and theirs,
might go one day ??? ONLY IN AMERICA .
bdf
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