Eagle eyed drawings

Pic info: Centre fold cutaway Eagle comic circa 1966. Artist Roy Cross.

Taken from Eagle Annual Of cutaways Orion Press.

It goes like this one of our family stories was that my Dad use to read Eagle in 50’s and had collected a number of these centre page cutaway pictures. A rare splash of colour in the black and white world of rationing Britain. Sadly as parents do his mum chucked them out which is slightly ironic as my Nan's house was full of dusty useless old tut in later years.

Anyway I found this reprint book (the Eagle Annual of Cutaways)in a comic shop a while ago and bought it for my Dad’s Birthday. It full of the most wonderful drawings.

I know most of the world isn’t turned on by cutaway diagrams of 1950’s cargo planes etc but I would heartily recommend you at least open the book in Foyle’s as its a marvel for anyone interested in drawing, design, history, culture, graphics etc.
It's a 100 pages of incredibly detailed technical drawing mostly in colour. It’s dripping with the sensibility of 1950-60’s Britain and even though everywhere is smoky chimneys and meat and 2 veg there’s refreshing optimism of the choice subject.

The enthusiasm for science and for a better world is pleasing. It’s also refreshingly un-patronising towards children as the artists assumed that they’ll be interested in more things than football and trainers. They perhaps naively assume that not only racing cars and jet fighters might spark interest but also dustbin Lorries and spectacularly oddly a potato harvester might pique some interest in young minds.

Jonathon Glancey writes an entertaining introduction revelling in a world were we still made stuff and even where even the most glamorous of motor boat is piloted by men in car coats and trilbies. So have a look you never know what you’ll learn.

This picture if the X- 15 is one of a number of space themes spreads including Telstar and Mercury capsules. The X-15 is a what might have been on space craft after a number of successful years of record breaking experimental flights it's funding dwindled to pay for the moon flights the contention of X-15 supporters is that it had been developed further we would now be flying into space much like Dan Dare in sleek rocket planes.

This striking drawing is by Roy Cross who some of you may know was the genius behind the classic box art from those other essentials for any 1960's childhood Airfix kits!
Roy's work is always full of excitement and action even if now the PC police have removed the bullets and bombs from modern boxes in case presumably any kids decide to restage the strafing of a German U boat.

Ps. there's a GPO tower cutaway on my other site as a Brucie bonus
Go here for the more details of Eagles Cutaway

Another Stellar first!

Picture Info. Lt. Colonel Guion Bluford May 1982 B/W Postcard

Here’s a nice postcard of America’s first black astronaut who goes by the marvellous name of Guion "Guy" Bluford (and being American) Junior. I won’t rehash the details he suffice to say he’s made 4 shuttle flights and spent a wapping 668 hours in space. The Guion's full story is here.

A bigger splash!

Picture Info:
Postcard Caption "Recovery of Lieutenant Commander Shepard, the first U.S man in space, after his 302 mile ride down the atlantic Missile range". Plastichrome Postcard circa 1960 (?)

Here’s a dramatic shot of Alan Shepard being pulled from the drink after his first sub-orbital trip. Looking at this 40 plus year card a handful of things struck me firstly I don’t know what formal process developed the design, colour scheme and typography of the American military planes etc but some how their planes always look great.

The stars and typeface are simple and clear, I always like the little labels on the side of places for ducts and vents and escape hatches. There is something about this era’s craft that’s appealing both the chopper and the capsule are close to the planes of ww11 in design. They are lithe and simple none of the chunky excess of the shuttle or modern military choppers they are made up of slim simple forms with ribs and welds visible. They just look cool some how.

Another thing about this shot is that considering this was all happening out at sea and the main goal was to rescue old Alan and his capsule it’s really nice shot taken with some bulky camera by some marine snapper hanging out the door of another chopper, of course decent shots where very important to the US’s space mission as NASA lives and dies by the public support and this support needs to be fed with exciting pictures like this one.

By Jupiter

Pic info: launch of Jupiter Booster Feb 27th 1959
Photo credit: AP Wirephoto.

Not much to say about this photo from my collection, except that it’s a really dramatic atmospheric shot full of movement and fire. The Jupiter was a modified ballistic missile used to carry the pioneer probes to the moon amongst other things .

Jobs for the spaceboys

Picture Info: “What do you do? The Astronaut” By Michael Pollard Drawings by Peter Kesteven photos NASA MacMillan press 1972
Thank marx for the socialistic comprehensive education system that blossomed in the Britain after the war there was role in this bright world for every child. Our purpose built schools rang to excited voices of children crying out for learning and enlightenment. Our future was planned and useful job could be found for every kid. Sorry I got a bit carried away there, sadly I think even the most addled of touchy feely, sociology graduate would have had hard job selling shoemender and astronaut as equal jobs offering the same amounts of excitement, adventure and fulfilment.

I mean god bless cobblers and builder’s labourers, we all need fitters and trawler men and if things had gone differently many of the lads at our school would have gone down the pit. But you know I think only fireman (in this impressive list) might have only been as popular choice as spaceman.
Also fancy writing a career book for less than 1000th of a percent of the human population!

Anyway I salute the world’s binmen, pipe benders, spanner boys, till operators, white line huggers and cow botherers but forgive me if I rather had joined Yuri, Alan, Alexei and Valentina Tereshkova on page 26. Check the tasty centrifuge action below!

Mystery rocket

Picture info:
Thor-able (?) launch of Dicoverer II Satellite from Vandenberg Air Force base California 13th April 1959.Source: US Air Force Photo.

My first post was a fake looking picture of space dog Danka so to maintain cold war balance here’s a weird looking American photo is it me or does it look weird like a model or a set up. It’s made more confusing as I can’t find the blast off described in the caption for Thor-able rocket I think it reality it’s Thor-Agena rocket.

Anyway it’s a nice dramatic shot. And we’ve all learnt that Spanish for Launch is “Lanzamieto”

click on the original english caption below to read the official version

Update
God Bless flickr through which "Almiy's" got in touch
and said this in repsonse to the picture above and my questioning it's correctness. I'm a bit jealous having a grandad who helped launch rockets, mine launched trawlers which is cool but rockets well that's must be better!

"It looks legit to me. Where did you find it? I happen to work at Vandenberg AFB where they launched the Thor and Agena rockets way back when during my grandfathers day when he worked there. Although the Thor was only one type of rocket launched from Space Launch Complex 2 at VAFB, this photo looks like the old SLC-2 East site (I know it well) where they still do some current rocket prep work. They now launch at SLC-2 West which is a much bigger tower to accommodate modern Delta II rockets. See a photo of the most recent launch at my Flickr site. The first ballistic missile in the US was launched from this site and the buildings remain historical landmarks still in use.Also see: www.ulalaunch.com/ or www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d335/gallery/www.spaceflightnow.com/ "

Flying carpets to the stars

Pic info.
Cool as Fuck!
Inspiral Carpets badge 2cm diameter
Circa 1992

Song info
Saturn 5
1994
By Inspiral Carpets (Tom Hingley, Clint Boon, Graham Lambert, Craig Gill, Martyn Walsh)
Produced by Pascal Gabriel
UK chart position 18 format mp3

Time for some music, a nice obvious tune first. Most songs about space use the heavens as a metaphor for earthly matters generally affairs of the heart. But this slice of poppy organ drive baggy delight, from a close perusal of the lyrics seems to be just a celebration of the world’s biggest and most complicated flying machine. Clint Boons trade mark organ rifts rise and fall throughout the tune and the only sour note is the rather pedestrian drumming.

Saturn five has special place for me being a perennial indie club favourite, it’s the soundtrack to many a good night especially in the unlikely New York New York which is down on the left just off the Ramblas. Enjoy!
Ps: Clint and Tom and the boys had some other astral tinged tracks: Party In The Sky, Pluto man, Paper Moon.

Lady take a ride on a Zeke 64,

Jerry wants to be a rockette

That's a popular misconception,

says we haven't seen anything yet

Laying down the lifeless corpse of President 35

The lady crying by his side is

the most beautiful woman alive

Saturn 5, you really were the greatest sight

Stretching out on a summer's day

Houston, it's calling me back to her

An Eagle lands, and a planet full of people raises its hands

All hail the men who will walk up in heaven today

Monochrome TV,

all the things you ever represented to me

Take me once more, take me to heaven again

Saturn 5, you really were the greatest sight

Stretching out on a summer's day

Houston, it's calling me back to her

More band info.