In the Area 51 time line, we were prehistoric. From 10
December 1961 to 1 June 1965 I was Chief Forecaster and Briefer at the Area.
Actually, I flew out to the ranch almost a year before I moved out there,
things were not really set up, and I went back to MKC where I was working on
a tornado project. When I finally moved in, the cadre was really
small, uniforms were optional until Bob Holbury shortly arrived and shook
things up.
The airplane was just a mockup to setup for radar tests. The palatial
housing was brought in on truck beds from a base up by Reno .
Came in a cloud of dust over that stretch of flat desert between the
back gate and the area. As I recall we were Bob Holbury, Doug Nelson,
Ray Haupt, Danny Mitchell, Sam Pizzo, Jack Thornton, Burt Barrett, Duke
Rowden, Steve McIlvane, Bob Seymour and another navigator working with
Sam whose name eludes me. Werner was there, and Charlie White for
security.
Being there for the early tests, setting up base operations, the crypto,
navigation facilities and general support took up our time. I was
there for the first flight and later saw Lou roll the beast (Sam says it was
on takeoff, but I maintain it was during a fly-by. Lou wasn't
that zany).
It was Sam Pizzo and I who designed the "Roadrunner" emblem.
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