New Series of Articles for LinkedIn

In our resumes, some of you may have listed accomplishments with the job position. Within the limited room that is presented, the background of the accomplishment gets missed. What I started doing is a series on the LinkedIn Web Site titled 'The Rest of the Story'​ to add detailing to this background so that the full understanding of why this is a great "Dragon Slaying Story"​ is revealed. There is always room for this, and I have been negligent in the past. The accounts themselves have, at many times, an unforseen consequence that adds to that story. The first article pre-amble is presented here, but if you would like to know 'The Rest of the Story', please do go over to LinkedIn and have a go at reading the full article.

FSPUP (EBA) Chart produced and copyrighted by Michael A. Eastman

The Rest of the Story - Accomplishment FSPUP

Published on June 13, 2019
Michael A Eastman
Senior Technologist - System Integration Design Development, Analysis, Configuration Data Management...

Along the way in searching for materials that I was gathering for another publication, I came across a graph that I had forgotten about. When talking to HR during interviews, I would come up with explanations of what was accomplished on a previous position. Most times these involve what has been termed "Dragon Slaying" stories, a term that Liz Ryan coined on her article on Re-Branding Yourself at Any Age dated 07/30/2014. I have already used the branding after trying to decide what it is that I have done the most or best, instead summing up what I would like to do in the future. I currently have an eye on Senior Research and Development in Design Technology, whether it is by hardware, software or by concepts. This I realize will take some more memories to be made in order to achieve. The 'Senior Technologist' is a result of boiling down several of the past positions held, and I have several dragon slaying stories of how I accomplished those (the Rosetta-Matrix Solution, MPE and Me, The Binary-Matrix, How to read the Library of Congress in any language, The Triangle Equation, and many more). These stories will be presented in the future under this particular series of articles that I am putting together.

More Details For a Star Trek Model

In response to a query on a FaceBook Page:

Ray Vaughn  > Star Trek 1:350 and large scale sci-fi modeling community 

 02/03/2019 8:55 pm

HI GUYS, IM ADDING NUMBER DECALS ON THE DAMAGE REPAIR PANELS. THEY WERE ON THE MINIATURE. 4 DIGIT NUMBERS... DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE FOR...

Jeffrey Griffin In ‘Verse explanation: Numbers are likely plate identifiers from the dockyards prior to painting of the hull. Or they’re plate numbers from the in-field repairs?

Ray Vaughn Awesome!! I never thought about it like that.

Michael A Eastman Gene Roddenberry approached the design of the Enterprise from the standpoint of a military background and specifications. The panels would have anywhere from two to four digits on its edges in order to match the numbers next to it for proper placement. Look closely to aircraft panels. Many have them. The X-15 and test aircraft had them. I co-wrote an article with Tim Lindsey on the Star Trek Models in Crazed Plastic. This was a publication that our group, the Gateway International Plastic Model Society (IPMS) in St.Louis MO, put out on a regular basis. This was back in 1987. Gosh, 32 years ago! As for the damage depicted on the original model, I gave a description on how it was attained. You've done a wonderful job in re-creating it.

Ray Vaughn OH WOW!!!! THIS GREAT!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH, AND THANK YOU FOR THIS INFO. THIS IS SO COOL!!!! I REALLY WISH I HAD A JOB WITH I.LM. BACK IN THE 80'S...

Michael A Eastman In these FB Pages you never know who is out there with the information that you're looking for. It never hurts to ask. Really, it is a great job on the model. The drawings that I did for that publication were all done in freehand. To see more of the Star Trek details you can check out the Drawings and Sketches Page.

Broken Links Access Methodology (BLAM)

Facebook is a wonderful place to find interesting sources of information and pictures. There are times though that you get disconnected links or problems with accessing the referenced web site. One such site that I came across recently dealt with Jess Bell Photography.

When I clicked on the listed link from Facebook, this is as far as I got.

Most people would be stopped at this point. By using a proxy I was able to access the site, but then experienced another issue when viewing the page. The actual pictures had broken links. 

At this point I was ready to go on to the next level. For programmers in HTML, I was aware that I could look for the links manually.  By looking at the source code of the page itself I was able to find the very links to the images.

 

Still using the proxy, I would go directly to the image without all the page code.  This is much cleaner and simpler.  The end result is this image.

To many, this would seem to be a complex and laborious process.  It actually only took me a few minutes to accomplish this. 

For many sites that I favor, I would collect images for future reference then print the page as a PDF.  The PDF would be later encoded to link to the image files.  The purpose of this is that many sites that I have accessed in the past either disappear or are no longer supported by the host provider.

I have many, many old bookmarks that no longer work and I started to save a representation of the sites in preparation of this. The other tool that I would use first on much older sites would be the WayBack machine.  This is a site that also collects a snapshot of the web page during that time frame.  I have been able re-visit old web sites this way, but again, over time these also seem to fade away to make room for current site archiving.  

Built my own Drafting Table

As I was saying in a previous post, I built my own drafting table, and can still do traditional drafting on it or sketching.

I also advanced my skill sets by taking Intermediate and Advanced AutoCAD and Intergraph MicroStation. This was added to the Computer Aided Drafting (CAD)/Computer Aided Machining (CAM) and Graphics Interactive Programming Language (GRIP) that I already had under my belt. Later, Unigraphics and Visio-Technical was acquired and used in several positions.

I trained earlier to be a draftsman and did Packaging, Circuit Board Design, Electrical, Electronic, Structural, PLAT, Piping, Drainage, Storage Tanks, Ventilation, Safety Devices, Space Studies, Equipment Placements, as well as drafted Mathematical, Scientific, Technical and Experimental results obtained from physics labs.

The charts, graphs and diagrams done for the University of Missouri - St. Louis (UMSL) Physics Departments involved the Geology, Mathematics, Nuclear Physics, Astrophysics, Meteorology, and Chemistry Departments.  The results of these charts, graphs and diagrams are found in the following publications: Physical Review Letters, Journal of Chemical Physics, Applied Physics Letters, Astrophysics Journal, Geophysics, and Mathematical Review.

Other drawings that I did as the 'Physics Department Draftsperson' was the design, construction and maintenance of the physics 'black' test boxes, control panels for ionic and molecular collision chambers , and diagraming and fabricating wiring harness to liquid hydrogen and non-terrestrail atmospheres experiments. More on these drawings will appear in the Sketches Page.

The blueprint on the table is of a working steam turbine that I designed to power a student built hovercraft. I was a junior at Redmond High School (RHS) in the Industrial Arts Department (IAD) when I did this. It was during the 1969 - 1970 time frame.

The drafting arm was obtained from a McDonnell Douglas Auction for a mere pittance. The wood is from scrap lumber in my garage.  The front has a wood hinge that will enable the top to tilt from 0 to 90 degrees.  This is farther than most drafting tables which usually tilt up to 45 degrees.	The self sealing surface I purchased from Artmart.  Under the drafting surface is space to store paper, drawings or supplies that I would need. I also have a lamp that is clamped to the top edge so that I can get even lighting.
A closer look at one of the pages of the steam turbine blueprints.  This was done way back in 1969 - 1970 time frame.  Gosh, over fifty years ago!	This is a closeup of the table support that makes the tilting possible. I was going to purchase a pair of locking slides but found that no one sells them. I studied one at artmart and made a few sketches. From this, I purchased supplies from my local hardware store and constructed my own.
Mr Erickson was my teacher in Redmond High School (RHS) Industrial Arts Department (IAD).  Here he is checking the design of the steam engine that I drew when I was a junior there.

X-15 References

A sample of this was published December 20th on Facebook: To Robert Small and others that like to think, look at, dream and build the X-15 (and I'm surprised that there isn't a larger group out there on this topic). Besides collecting and building the model, I also like to research it. I have a bit of AMS (Advanced Modeling Syndrome) following the AISC (Advanced Information Systematic Collection) that results in the IO (Information Overload). This usually ends up with WTHDISOT (Where The Hell Do I Start On This). Ah yes, usually the cockpit I'm told. I had been looking into the topic for quite a while, and actually wrote a small article on it in Crazed Plastic Publication #31 of the IPMS Gateway Group during 1986 (again - 30 years ago). Since then I have continued to research it, never tiring at looking at newly released photos or digging through old technical documents. Just a few examples of what I look at during this process:

Airpower Magazine, November 2005, Volume 35, Number 11: X-15 Pilot's in Space. Excellent article with great pictures.	Air Modeller #17 and #18 has the best continued article on how to improve on the X-15 model. Sky Model also has an excellent article on another build, but misses a few details. Model Airplane International has a quick review of the kit and a quick build. All excellent magazines. They all ask the same thing, why are there no pilot figures?
The little brochure in black on the X-15 that I received many years ago (like maybe mid 70's) that got me started. Still other magazines like Wings, and Air & Space do update pieces from time to time. Invention & Technology talks about the plane rather than the pilots, still excellent articles in each and every one of the publications.	I'm not exclusive to english magazines, I also attempt to acquire German, French, Italian and Japanese modelling magazines. Each model builder has his own style. Aircraft Monthly and Flight Journal also produced reports, and we have more of the Wings, Aviation Weekly & Space Technology, and Airpower - which included an excellent article on the carrier aircraft.
There are many magazines from the time like Airpower, and Aviation Week and Space Technology that carried up to date progress of testing, development and flying the X-15. Finescale Magazine has featured many articles over the years on building models. Surprising enough, other magazines like Flight Safety and Airforce contained details not found in mainstream publications or viewpoints that you would not normaly consider.	The best of the best in references; Hypersonic, The X-Planes, Apogee's X-15, X-15 Photo Scrapbook, Aerofax Datagraph #2 on the X-15 as well as another Wings article all provide top notch views and details not found anywhere else. At the Edge of Space - The X-15 Flight Program by Milton O. Thompson is also excellent in the telling behind the scenes with historical perspective.
Now, this is where I start to detail parts of the aircraft with measurements, dimensions, and close up inspections from color and b/w photos. I do markups on photocopies and also sketch my own details.	Even more sketches with extreme amount of detail. Rivet counting at its best.
Still more sketches. These are just a sampling of what I have.	Still more b/w with markups. Each flight had differences in the craft.
National Geographic has some excellent photos and illustrations on flying the X-15 as well as personal recounts from the pilots. The red book is NASA SP-60 Experiment Results. Covering all the experiments performed on each flight, this is a goldmine of information. I also collected articles from many older modeling magazines, like Scale Aircraft Modeler on the B-52's used in the flights. Air Enthusiast Six showed an overview of the craft and the differences between them. I also asked friends to take b/w and color shots of any in the museums for more detail (this was before there were photo galleries just brimming with information).	And this is where most do not dare go. The NASA and Contractor Technical Notes, where every conceivable test was written in the most dry, scientific manner at the time of the experiment. They contain the results in equations and graph form, but if you study them enough they make an amazing story of pushing boundaries, pilots performing flights to confirm wind tunnel results or finding out what does not work. These reports were crucial in the development of later craft like the space shuttle. These documents are the holy grail that all other publications skip over. I find them fascinating.
I've even put together a listing of other documents that I do not yet have access to, but list by author, source and subject matter. It is this listing that I provided to the engineers working on the NASP (National AeroSpace Plane) that sped up the development of their project. I also used my research in hypersonics, materials and temperature control in another IRAD (Internal Research And Development) project dealing with Fusion Reactors at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. More on this later.	Another list that I cobbled together showing every flight for the X-15, then color coding other events at the time that was either driving the program or reacting to it. Not exhaustive, but just gives an idea of the times.

Star Trek References

Before there were the resources of the internet, there were conventions and clubs. I would scour several in my area to bring home information that I would use for my references in model building in Star Trek (and other kits). I had purchased #1 of the StarFleet Assembly Manual in 1977 and #2 in 1980 with a blueprint as well. Never could find #3 until 2004 when the collected works came out with decals (thanks Paul M. Newitt). Mine is #007/100. In between I had picked up the Japanese Super-Visual collection from 1981. Then later the Bunkasha Publications of the later Star Trek Series published from 1995 to 1999. Just some of the earlier references that I have used.

1977	1980
2004, the collected works came out with decals (thanks Paul M. Newitt). Mine is #007/100.	1981, Super Visual Mook, a three volume set dealing with Star Trek as the main theme. Set me back $100.00 at the time. Who knows what it is worth today?
1995, Special Compendium for the movies and series, $50.00	1997, Special Compendium for the movies and series, $50.00
1999, Special Compendium for Mechanics and Vehicles, $50.00

My A-12 Model Website

This is a website that I did over ten years ago using a program called JAlbum 6.3.2 then modified the html code manually.  You then had to use a ftp program to upload it to your alotted space.  JAlbum is now at version 13.7 and going strong.  Since then, there have been a few more model kits generated and I will update the site in the near future to include them.  Two links are now dead: A-12 Avenger II - best site and Collectaire have gone by the wayside.  I haven't seen any activity to the site in the last few years, the A-12 becoming a footnote in history.

To check out the site you can go to A-12 Models.  Leave a comment on what you think: good/bad?