We are at the Flight Simulator building at Purdue University and this is where a lot of things started in aviation. Program and professional flight was the first in the country to offer bachelor disease to pilots in the mid1960s. Today it continues to be one of the finest flight programs in the country. We have so many people who have been so important. ,oing back to the beginning some of the countrys most important figures, Billy Mitchell who was a world war i , thender in the air force father of the modern air force were both trained to fly by purdue graduates. The first guy involved was cliff and he graduated in 1908. His father was from dayton, ohio and he paid outofstate tuition for his son to come here to learn about internal combustion engines. We had Great Research going on on the internal combustion engine. He said he knew more about the engines and the plan was for him to go back to dayton with his father and they were going to build motorcycles. They did. They started a Motorcycle Company. Records in the smithsonian in washington, d. C. At the air and space museum. He said in the evening near his house he would take long walks for dinner and he would happen upon a workshop where the Wright Brothers were working and i got to know them. I didnt believe a word of that. Guy ands a 22yearold he loved internal combustion engines and the smell of oil and grease. He love the noise and he loved to make engines smaller and more powerful. He made a beeline for their workshop and when they found out he was a purdue engineer they cliff helped the Wright Brothers improve their engine and improve their controls. He wasnt satisfied with that. He became one of the Wright Brothers original exhibition flyers who went around the country to demonstrate the flight to people. Had to go to his father and say the money you invested in my Purdue Education so i could build motorcycles, im going to go fly airplanes with these guys down the block. Time later the Motorcycle Company was bankrupt and cliff was one of the most famous people in the country. These exhibitions made headlines in the new york times, they were a big deal and they demonstrated flight to 200,000 people in chicago or 5000 people at the county fair. They boxed the freight up and transported it by train and showed what people could do. No one would believe it every article i read about seeing flight for first time said when the plane left the ground there was absolute silence. As theyoar came up realized what they were seeing for the first time. When cliff turpin got out he had a terrible accident in seattle and his airplane ended up going into a crowd with the propeller still spinning. People were killed. About 1915 he lived into the spaceage. George, he was a world war i pilot, he continued in the air force after world war i and he was stationed in dayton and he flew an airplane on the purdue campus and landed here at purdue. E came with a petition he wished to start an Aeronautical Engineering Program at purdue. Theyn a couple years started an Aeronautical Engineering Program at purdue as part of the mechanical engineering. Mechanical engineering has been the root of so many different fields of engineering. One of a handful of Aeronautical Engineering Programs. He eventually left the air force and headed up that program that had a new person every year who was not doing well. The records say he worked day and night to build that program into one of the greatest programs in the country. When world war ii started he was taken back into the military and he never returned to purdue. Starting Something Special here. After world war ii aeronautical wasineering separated from mechanical engineering. It was now one of the best in the country, one of the handful of the best. George haskins lived a long life. July of 1969 he was in his home he retired in california and watch this man that was born before flight happened who was a world war i pilot and watched a band walk on the moon, neil armstrong, who had been through the program he he created in purdue. Thats one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind. And georgetchell haskins realized the importance air travel was going to play not only in warfare but in transportation in this country. It continues with purdue graduates. 1924 a purdue graduate from indiana, with the most experienced pilots in the army air force, he headed up a group of four planes, the plan was to fly around the world. They were going to stop every night. They would fly so far and stop. They were able to go through land areas to various points. It ended up taking them over 150 days to do this. The whole trip was planned and organized by frederick martin. Unfortunately he was lost in a huge blizzard in alaska and was not able to finish the trip. He might have lost his place in aviation history but he did not. Charge ofs who is in the air corps in hawaii . Frederick martin. It turns out he and his counterpart in the navy had written a report predicting the japanese attack on pearl harbor to the letter, what was going to happen and what time it would occur and what day of week it was going to occur. They had it all down. Some of the most exciting things to happen in aviation at purdue before the war and after the war. Man named 1937 a george comes from delaware. He wants to be a pilot. He finishes in the army, drafted and goes into the army to become a pilot. Is in hawaii941 he at a rural airfield. Night playing poker and having fun. George came back to his barracks and saw just as the attack started. What is the navy doing practicing this early. They look like japs. Give me the airplane. He got up and was able to shoot down four japanese airplanes. It was the most success any single pilot had. Its one of the most incredible stories in human history. 1903nt from december 17, to july 20, 1969, kitty hawk to the moon in less than 66 years. Purdue and m. I. T. Have graduated more astronauts than any other nonmilitary university. M. I. T. , they have a lead among public universities many astronauts learn how to fly at the purdue airport. They learned their entire experience here. Neil armstrong learned to fly at 16 years old. They flew into this airport from their homes and business trips they had. Armstrong was very close to purdue. Through these facilities and taught the students. They are pilots. Before they were in space they were pilots. They love airplanes and love to fly. We are Landing Craft son marge. Mars. Purdue graduates are involved in those missions to mars. U. S. Arly a third of all spaceflights have involved astronauts from Purdue University. As nasa prepares for its first launch of u. S. Astronauts since 2011 this wednesday we will go back to the beginnings. From 1958 to 19 79 astronauts trained at the university of North Carolina pot morehead planetarium where they learn celestial navigation techniques. At morehead we still talked about the role we played on the front linesof the cold war
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