Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show...(the opening lines of David Copperfield as written by Charles Dickens;inspired by MTM). This ACCOUNT will, perhaps, show that I had some interesting moments and memories of Elmwood Avenue, as I was growing up. Every man dies; not Every Man Lives(William Wallace; BRAVEHEART).
During the course of conversation that had us discussing coincidences, and fate, regarding Loblaw's at 765 Elmwood Ave---you mentioned a couple of interesting locations. You had suggested the happenstance of the dry cleaners---and, in lower-case, the library. Of course, there was always Ward's Pharmacy. As well, there was that pharmacy up on the corner of Delaware & Delavan. But those are middle and late 60's experiences so we'll cover those in another chapter.
Regarding our conversation---later in the evening, as I was making my way up the stairs for bed, my mind expressed an exclamation, OMG!!!!
When 'library' was mentioned, was she referring to The Crane Library on Elmwood & West Ferry!?!? Don't get me wrong. In the early 60's we were more inclined to go up Delavan Ave. to School 56 to play rubber-ball baseball. But on occasion, we would turn south onto Elmwood Ave and go to the Library. And this essay is to convey my memorable moment of my Crane Library experience. One of my most vivid recollections of a book, has to do with one that I pulled off of their shelf to read, almost 50 years ago. I was so captivated by this book that I decided I was going to withdraw it, and take it home to finish. I have not GOOGLED this, yet. I feel so confident of this book's impact on me, that these 49 years later I know that what I'm about to recount, is 100% accurate.
It is the true "Book Report" of the Ivan Kincheloe Story, one of the USAF's fabled jet-fighter test-pilots. I was drawn to this subject matter because it was largely from this genre of personnel that the spawning U.S. Manned Space Program was gleaning its Project Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo Astronauts. The test-pilot's job basically is to take prototype fighter aircraft, intentionally push the machine to its limits of endurance, and then come back to talk about it. Kincheloe's successes were so pronounced that he was earmarked as a premier test-pilot for the USAF X-15 Project. But on a July day in 1958, it would all go terribly wrong. (...and who knows young lady, while I was cutting through the first pages of this book, you may have been sitting at an adjacent table).
One of the nagging spectres of jet propulsion speed, was dealing with an in-flight emergency where the pilot had to eject. At this level of speed the pilot, still strapped into his cockpit seat assembly, is ejected upwards from the cockpit.
The concern!?!?!?
Several mini-explosions take place in micro-seconds which has the canopy jettisoned away, and almost simultaneously, the spring-loaded seat assembly is blasted upwards from the cockpit. But, even as all of this takes place with pin-point accuracy, the ejecting pilot now has another problem!!! What is coming up in a hurry about to split his rear-end in two, is the tail of the plane that he has just ejected from. In this scenario pilots have sustained serious injury and death.
Kincheloe's assignment was to experiment with an ejection procedure similar to that of the nose landing-gear. In effect what is supposed to happen is that underside flaps open and the spring-loaded ejection seat is shot downward. The concept works great if you are at 5000 feet, or higher. But if a pilot is at low altitude, and doesn't have the ability to roll his plane, he now has a serious problem.
On July 26, 1958, when Kincheloe took-off with his F-104 Starfighter jet, he almost immediately developed trouble and went out of control. Not gaining any significant altitude, and not being able to roll his jet he would have to eject out from underneath his jet like a paint-ball---and splat onto the surface just below him.
Instead, he chose to stay with his ship, and go down in a Blaze of Glory!!
The kids I hung around with would always walk along Elmwood; never Richmond, as the thoroughfare between our house and the library. Elmwood always was a beehive of activity and always---had a Pulse Beat!!!! Out of this, grew a curiosity to gather and explore.
--{-=@
Hickok
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