10"x8" oil on canvas panelI believe I have finally finished these boots. I might tweak them a little bit, but for the most part they are done!!
Now for the rest of the story...
My greatest friend and neighbor, who happens to be an awesome teacher, has an Uncle Bill. Yes, William H. Dana, a test pilot who flew in the early 1960's in the hypersonic X-15 research aircraft and flew the rocket-powered vehicle 16 times, reaching a top speed of 3,897 mph and a peak altitude of 307,000 feet (nearly 59 miles high), which means he obtained his astronaut wings in these boots!! He was the pilot on the final (199th) flight of the 10-year program...yes, he broke the sound barrier!!! He's actually in the Smithsonian. My friend's mother and father knew many of these guys (including Neil Armstrong) and had them over on the weekends, casually. How fun is that!!
Great boots, but what a wonderful legacy!
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