The Adventures of a Twentieth Century Engineer

By Gilbert Ruley Smith P.E.

In my teenage years, I attended the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (BPI) a prestigious upper level high school with a curriculum designed for engineers. Upon graduation, I decided to take a job at the school (BPI) as shop assistant/electricity lab assistant, thereby making me a member of the staff. Meanwhile, at the Johns Hopkins University Physics Department, Bill Sinton who was a graduate student of Professor John Strong at the time knew that Dr Strong was looking for an electronics technician that was familiar with Optics. It was well known that I was an amateur astronomer and assisted the school staff in teaching Astronomy which helped me qualify and be hired for the position. I worked for Dr Strong for the next 13 years and attended Johns Hopkins night school.

Gilbert Ruley Smith, PE

27

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781644622582

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The Adventures of a Twentieth Century Engineer

Gilbert Ruley Smith, P.E.

Copyright © 2020 Gilbert Ruley Smith, P.E.

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2020

ISBN 978-1-64462-257-5 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-64462-258-2 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

My Early Life

Science and Engineering

High School and College

Military Experience

Return to Johns Hopkins

Extensive Air Travel

The New Mexico Desert

Rapid City, South Dakota

Westinghouse

Civil Service/NOAA & NASA

Satellite Instrument Assembly

The Big Spectrometer

The Carpool

Return to Sioux Falls

Palestine, Texas

White Sands Aircraft Flights

Semi-Retirement

Health Issues

Return To NASA

This book is dedicated to

All Engineers

And in Memory of

My wonderful wife, Ruth

And in respectful memory of my departed colleagues:

Jack Knoll

Harlod Yates

K.N. Rao

John D. Strong

Donald T. Hillary

William M. Sinton

David Q Wark

Harold Daw

Warren Hovis

Dave Manion

Bernie Fridovich

Introduction

In contrast to the word Adventure, this book is not intended to be magnificent, awesome, glamorous, or inspiring. Rather, it is intended to be an interesting and entertaining memoir of my life and, in addition, the travel and circumstances that came my way during my life as an Engineer/Scientist. There is very little if any, fiction included. I have not travelled to the far away places of the earth in National Geographic style. Instead, I have travelled to the far away places of the United States in the time frame of the mid to late twentieth century. Things have changed a lot since then. As such, it is likely that many of the circumstances that I encountered or experienced no longer exist. My experiences were essentially snapshots in time.

I am a Registered Professional Electrical Engineer. I have been told that I am an Engineer that understands Science or a Scientist that understands Engineering. The repeated frequency of this statement forces me to believe that this is true. I have also been told that the bridge between Science and Engineering is often difficult to traverse.

Most of us spend eight hours a day at work earning money and engaged in some profession or trade. Eight of the remaining sixteen hours are spent sleeping at home and for the rest we are engaged in activities commensurate with our family. The full story of anyone’s life is the combination of these two activities. This book describes my experiences while engaged in either on-the-job activities or away from home activities.

The story of my personal life outside of the job is included in two earlier books. My personal life was very unusual and complex in that I was married to an identical twin. My wife’s mother, twin sister and family also lived with me. This is not the usual scenario and is the incentive for my earlier writings.

As a result of the unusual unfolding circumstances in my life, my career as a Scientist/Engineer began at a very young age with my interest in Astronomy and electricity. The experiences of my youth were anything but average. In retrospect, my career was an extension of the hobbies and interests of my youth. So, my adventures began during my youth.

The stories in this book include my exposure to Science as a young boy but are mostly concerned with the major technical events of my adult life and my experiences during the travel associated with the discharge of my duties as an Engineer and Scientist.

I have minimized the scientific and technical details in describing my travel adventures. Some of the stories included in these chapters may be described as anecdotal. I consider this to be a good thing rather than a bad thing. I have always leaned toward the light, or positive side of things.

My growing up experience was a bit unusual. Therefore, I set the stage for my stories by describing my early life in the early chapters.

I am happy that you are reading this book. Very few pleasures can match the enjoyment readers’ feel when they are immersed in a story about bygone times and places. This is a type of travel accessible only through the written page.

For the very young readers, this is a tale from an era that you never knew and perhaps you may find it difficult to grasp the full meaning of some of the subject matter. To this end, I have strived to describe the circumstances leading up to the occasions and incidents included in these chapters.

Gilbert Ruley Smith

Lutherville, Maryland

September 2017

Chapter 1

My Early Life

Christmas of 1928 was an emotional time for my parents. I missed Christmas that year. I was born in the hospital on December 26. My parents had been married for a year and a half and were proud and happy to have a healthy baby boy. For reasons unknown to me, my parents did not have any more children. Normally, this would mean that I became a spoiled brat. I am proud to say that this did not happen to me.

We lived in the western part of the east coast city of Baltimore, Maryland on Mosher St. in the neighborhood called Goose Hill. Obviously, there was an abundance of geese in the area. The houses in the area were low income but had all city utilities such as electricity, heat, water and sewage. We were well within the city limits, but in those days in that area, it was normal for everyone to raise poultry and grow vegetables on their property. Everyone had a fairly large back yard that was essentially a truck farm.

It was the time of the Great Depression of 1929. The Depression was a universal tragedy that affected everyone. No one had any money to speak of. My father, a carpenter and handyman, managed to support his family on just seven dollars a week. Think about that, seven dollars a week! During those awful years, we always had a roof over our head and food on the table. For this, I give my father a great deal of credit. He was not alone. Every husband and father in those years faced the same impossible situation. Some poor souls had to beg for food and shelter.

The infamous bread lines of those times were a harsh reality. The trade and barter system was a part of life in those days. Often, my father would bring home a chicken or turkey as part of, or all of, his pay for his day’s work. There was one outstanding benefit from the hard times of this era. It reduced everyone to the same level and brought everyone together to fight the common battle for survival. The brotherhood of man was brought to the surface and neighbors helped neighbors with just about everything. In that respect, it was a good period of time.

Visiting my Smith grandparents at their country farm was a good experience for me. I learned what country living was all about. Their house had no electricity, running water or central heat. Of course, there was a nearby out-house! The night sky was very dark and filled with thousands of stars that sparkled like diamonds. It was here, at the age of seven years that my interest in Astronomy and telescopes began.

My parents and I were attending a Protestant Church located in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. The church was built on the rear gardens property of one of the early 19th century downtown mansions. The mansion was located adjacent to the cultural Mount Vernon Place neighborhood centered about the Washington Monument in Baltimore. The church used the large mansion lobby and front doors as the entrance to the church. In 1935, the church announced that they were looking for someone to be a live-in church custodian. My father immediately applied for the job and was accepted.

This position was a deal that you couldn’t refuse! The four story mansion had many rooms and the church agreed to let us live there rent free in exchange for a lower salary for my father as custodian. In addition, we did not have to pay for electricity, gas, water or heating. Also, we did not have to pay for any maintenance of these services. My father also provided the church with general repair and maintenance of the mansion and church infrastructure. This move finally placed us in the middle-income bracket.

My parents and I were given four rooms on the third floor and all of the rooms on the fourth floor of the mansion as our living quarters or apartment, making a total of fourteen rooms. Most of the rooms were large and quite adequate as living space. Since there was no elevator, we had to use the stairs as access to our living space. The ceilings in the mansion were sixteen feet high. Each floor was about the equivalent of two standard floors. Climbing and ascending the stairs kept us in good physical condition!

The walls and ceilings of all of the rooms on the first three floors were eloquently decorated with nineteenth century three-dimensional textured, fancy designs as a finish. In addition, the rooms were embellished with large, fancy wall mirrors and cut glass chandeliers. All of the rooms had one or more carved, colored marble fireplaces. The mansion was indeed beautiful.

The church caretaker duties that my father provided were not a full time venture. As a carpenter and general handyman, my father’s talents were most always in demand. So, my father could take on odd outside jobs that didn’t interfere with his custodian duties. The steady background of the church salary made life much easier for my father.

As a seven-year-old boy, I had no trouble in making the big old mansion and church, my home. I learned to know every nook and cranny in the place. I didn’t mind helping my father in some of his duties. There were only three church services per week. Church committee meetings were held on week day evenings. Therefore, most of the time, the church and mansion were empty except for my parents and me.

In addition to the major characteristics of the mansion, there was the emptiness and silence of the place. This was amplified at night. There was very little light. Most people would find the place spooky at night. I overcame this because of my intimate familiarity with the place. I knew what the place looked like at any hour of the day or night. I knew what was in the shadows and dark areas. For me, there was no unknown. The unknown is what makes a place spooky. In addition, I was not afraid of the large, dark church edifice at night for the same reason; there was no unknown.

Living in the mansion was very comfortable but not what we would call normal. No one else lived there. We were alone in the rear of the top floor. It was not located in the usual residential neighborhood. There were no neighbors to speak of.

The big social disadvantage of living downtown was the car-parking problem. The parking garages and streets were always full. It was difficult to find a parking place. The other transportation options were the taxi and the public streetcar or bus. Relatives and friends did visit us occasionally but definitely not as much as if we lived in a residential neighborhood.

The abnormal circumstances of being raised in the mansion set me apart from the usual person. For me, the advantages of this environment outweighed the disadvantages. As a result of my personality, I was able to adapt to my new environment and enjoy my life. I am sure that some people would not have been able to do this. As a child, I learned to like the old mansion. I was fond of the place. My passion for the old house has remained with me for the rest of my life.

As a young boy, my playground consisted of the walkways of the beautiful Mount Vernon Place gardens across the street where I roller-skated and rode my scooter. I was always careful that I didn’t interfere with the walking tourists that visited the area. I liked playing in this area better than the surrounding city sidewalks.

As an inner-city child, I had a nice growing up experience with my parents and friends that included a good balance of boys and girls. In those days, the inner city or downtown area was not really a bad place to live.

Fortunately for me, the main City Library was just three blocks away. It was a magnificant four story tall building that occupied a whole city block. Inside, there was a spectacular open atrium consisting of floor after floor of books. I was in awe every time I entered the library. For me, as a kid, it was like entering an Egyptian Pyramid! Also, everything looks bigger than it is to a kid.

I was a bookworm of sorts, was very well read and a regular attendee of the library. From my borrowed books, I made my own notes, diagrams and descriptions in loose-leaf notebooks and essentially had my own library of Astronomical, Scientific, Electrical and Technical information at home.

Living in the isolation of the mansion apparently did not affect my in-bred social skills. My parents never worried about my safety when I played outdoors on the neighborhood city streets. I never had one bit of trouble. There were kids my age out there but they were few and far between. As a typical city kid, I played in the alleys and streets and walked