#triviatuesday - What did Aeronca and Armco contribute to the Apollo 11 program? AND Which astronaut learned to fly in the popular Aeronca 7AC Champion airplane?

July 16, 1969 : LIFTOFF FOR THE HISTORIC APOLLO 11 MISSION TO THE MOON! 

Fifty years ago today the Apollo 11 launch became one historic step for NASA and one giant leap for two Middletown companies -- AERONCA INC. AND ARMCO STEEL. 

Therefore, today’s TriviaTuesday questions ask :   

1.What did Aeronca and Armco contribute to the Apollo 11 program? 

2.Which astronaut learned to fly in the popular Aeronca 7AC Champion airplane? 

Find the answers in the following blog!  They’re also listed several scrolls down.

Fifty years ago today, July 16, three brave explorers departed Earth, soaring skyward on a journey like no other in the history of mankind. Their destination?  

The Moon. 

“Earth’s Best On Way To Moon Touchdown,” the headline in the July 16, 1969, Middletown Journal announced. Its subtitle read: “Apollo 11: Luna Or Bust.” 

Thus, what would have been fantastic adventure fiction years ago was now – in journalism-speak - “hard news.” 

“Reaching for a dream, America’s Apollo 11 astronauts soared into earth orbit today and passed the vital first milestone of the voyage of the ages, an attempt to land men on the moon,” the Journal article began. 

“Civilian commander Neil A. Armstrong, Air Force Col. Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. and Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Collins started the journey on the awesome power of a Saturn 5 super-rocket that thundered from Cape Kennedy at 9:32 a.m. EDT with a roar heard round the globe...” 

The article reported that Armstrong, a Wapakoneta, Ohio, native, and “Buzz” Aldrin were tasked to “detach a lunar module and land on the lunar surface, specifically a site known as the Sea of Tranquility.” 

Despite having a name that invoked calm and quiet, the landing area would soon become the nexus of the most famous and spectacular human endeavor ever recorded. It would help fulfill:   

"... a centuries-old dream by walking on and exploring the lunar landscape.”  

Elsewhere in the same edition Journal Staff Writer Fred Sennet reported on the contributions made to the Apollo mission by Middletown companies Aeronca Inc. and Armco Steel.  

“Emotions were riding high at Aeronca, Inc. today,” Sennet’s article began. “After all, it isn’t every day you help send a man to the moon.” 

Titled “Aeronca Got Near Perfection for Moonship,” Sennet’s article related the vital role both companies had played in that day’s launch of Apollo’s historic mission. 

 “Aeronca employees, who helped develop the brazed honey-comb panels on the Apollo 11 command module that guard the astronauts against the intense temperatures of outer space, have a lot riding on today’s moon shot,” Sennet wrote. 

He reported that “the brazed panels for the space module” were built from Armco stainless steel...” 

“Without the panels, there would have been no launching today,” Sennet wrote.  

He quoted one Aeronca official as saying that the “the project here brought people together for a common purpose.”  

“’There were a lot of technical problems to overcome,’” said Lance Duncan, manager of control administration. “’But we took them one by one. Through the sweat and blood of a lot of people, the goals – and some were virtually impossible – were met.’” 

Today, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch to the Moon, we remain proud of Middletown’s vital contributions to this pivotal event in American – and world – history. 

Want to relive the launch of Apollo 11? Click on this link from NASA:  

LAUNCH VIDEO (SILENT) 

https://images.nasa.gov/details-NHQ_07_16_1969_Apollo%2011%20Launch%20HD%20_No%20Audio%20.html 

 

Answers to today’s TriviaTuesday questions: 

1.Aeronca manufactured special heat panels for the Apollo 11 mission. The panels were made of Armco steel. 

(See Middletown Journal July 16, 1969, “Local News” edition : “Aeronca Got Near Perfection For Moonship” by Fred Sennet of the Journal Staff.  An image of that edition appears above.

2.A teen-aged Neil Armstrong “took his first flying lessons...in the Aeronca 7AC Champion airplane manufactured in Middletown, Ohio,” according to the website of the museum that bears his name. (Information from the Armstrong Air and Space Museum website): 

https://armstrongmuseum.org/search/node?keys=aeronca+champion 

 

Sources: 

The bulk of information for today’s trivia blog came from the July 16, 1969, Middletown Journal. It and hundreds of other editions are available for viewing on microfilm at MidPointe Library’s Middletown location, 125 South Broad Street. 

Are you starry-eyed about Space? Then stop by MidPointe Library’s popular Summer Reading Program for all ages! This year’s theme is – fittingly -- “A Universe of Stories,” a nod to the 50th anniversary of the American Moon landing on July 20. 

Space-geeks (and who isn’t one these days?) can also indulge in our vast collection of Space-related on-shelf and eMaterial! 

Go to www.midpointelibrary.org > Catalog Search 

For a star trek through our voluminous eLibrary, go to:  www.midpointelibrary.org > eLibrary 

All it takes is a free MidPointe Library card to open up your world! 

Sign up for a card at any MidPointe Library location – Middletown, West Chester, Trenton, Monroe, Liberty Township (2nd floor, Liberty Center) and onboard our “Library On Wheels,” formerly known as the Bookmobile. 

In the meantime, keep your eyes on the skies! You never know what awe-inspiring event you might see!