Here is Tow Test Vehicle 2 during a Mojave Desert test. I suspect that is a dummy in the cockpit not a test pilot, because the fingers look stiff.TTV1 is in the Smithsonian. TTV2 is in Leicester, England.
Gemini Paraglider Wing at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.Length: 13m (43ft). Width: 10m (33ft) “The inflatable delta wing was part of a test program in the early 1960s to develop a controllable system for landing two-astronaut Gemini capsules on land, rather than parachuting into the ocean. It was used by North American Aviation, the prime contractor to NASA for the paraglider, in conjunction with two test vehicles, to conduct experiments in gliding and landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Due to technical difficulties and a tight schedule for the Gemini program, the concept never became operational. “Francis Rogallo, an engineer at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, invented the “Rogallo wing” in the 1950s, the concept on which this paraglider wing was based. Later it was mainly used for hang gliders.” [From the text accompanying the exhibit]
Gemini TTV-1 Paraglider Capsule At the start of the Gemini program in 1961, NASA considered having the space capsule land on a runway after its return from orbit (rather than parachute into the ocean). The capsule’s controlled descent would be achieved by the deployment of an inflatable wing of the type invented by American aeronautical engineer Francis Rogallo and NASA’s Langley Research Center. Although never used to recover a crewed spacecraft, the system proved useful in developing alternate landing techniques—and the Rogallo wing was a precursor to the modern hang glider.The full-scale, piloted Test Tow Vehicle (TTV) was built to test the Gemini paraglider wing in flight. It served as the first of two Test Tow Vehicles flown to perfect maneuvering, control, and landing techniques. In 1975, NASA transferred the TTV-1 to the National Air and Space Museum.
More on TTV1https://www.airandspace.si.edu/air-and-space-quarterly/issue-12/gemini-paraglider-wingGemini TTV-1 Paraglider Capsule https://www.spaceflighthistories.com/post/come-sail-away-gemini-paraglider
Series II: The Rockets: The Rogallo Wing and Flexikites, 1954-199111 Vernon Rogallo Family Flexikites (Memoirs and Articles)12 Flexikite Scrapbook13 "Peninsula Living", March 5, 1960 featuring the Rogallo Family14 NASA Publications Featuring Francis and His Rogallo Wing15 The Vernon Rogallo Family Aerobatic Kite Flying Team (The Rockets) Photo Negatives16 Photographs 4 x 517 Photographs 8 x 1018 Photograph, 8 x 10 on Oversized Board19 Photograph, Oversized20 Mounted Poster of Aircraft with Rogallo Wing, Oversized21 Kite Carrying Case with Kites and Accessories22 Red Nylon Parachute Material used for The Rockets' Costumes23 Toy Mercury Space Capsule with Para-Glider (Based on Rogallo Wing)
Great series. I just finally got a chance to read part 3. It was an excellent read with some fun facts. It really is a shame that the tech never made it to space. It would have been fun to watch a spacecraft returning under an inflatable wing.I did have one minor nit to pick, though. Quick Draw McGraw was a horse, not a dog. I think you may have been confusing him with Huckleberry Hound, also a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character, also voiced by Daws Butler. I have fond memories of swinging from a rope tied to a tree in our yard trying to hit my sister with a cardboard guitar while yelling "KABONG!" and trying not to fall off the rope. My success rate was about the same as the paraglider's.
I suspect that the definition of "paraglider" is rather wide and encompasses different wing designs.
There was a neat program the other night on the Rogallo family, wing and legacy. The OBX PBS station had interviews with his daughters and their experiences.
