Remembering Dad
HE WAS A GREAT TEACHER
Remembering Dad
He was born on April 10, 1919. His name is on the Wall of Honor at the Udvar-Hazy Museum with the following description of his work: “Mr. Kirchman received a Bachelor’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1942. He helped develop B-29 engines at Wright Aeronautical Company, and was part of the Titan 1 development team for the Martin Company. He was on several subcommittees for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). In 1959, Mr. Kirchman joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at Goddard Space Flight Center, where he pioneered the field of structural testing. Many of the facilities that Mr. Kirchman developed are in use today, including one of the largest centrifuges for structural testing in the world.”
Okay, that’s the official story. What you don’t know is that Dad always treasured two letters that he had received in his lifetime – actually not addressed to him. The first is from his high school guidance counselor, recommending that he forget college. “He should probably drive a truck.”
The second cherished letter is one from Dr. Werner von Braun, asking that Dad be selected for a committee assignment on structural integrity during the early days of NASA.
Dad ignored the advice to skip college, enrolling in the local junior college. Then he went to Notre Dame. His Great-Granddaughters have their sights set on Notre Dame. Anyhow, Dad went on to developing many of the test procedures that made spaceflight reliable. His Magnum Opus was the Launch Phase Simulator. The LPS was a giant centrifuge with a vacuum chamber on the end of the arm. Inside was a vibration machine. There were also solar lamps and a cryogenic system. In short, the device could duplicate every stress a spacecraft would be subjected to as it ascended.
But his true greatness was in being Dad. When I was thirteen and struggling in the halls of academia, Dad used the same problem-solving skills he used at work to make sure that I wasn’t headed to hell by way of the penitentiary, He needed to add a second floor to a building at NASA and he wanted a concept drawing for it. He didn’t go to the facility architect, but having seen my ability to draw, gave me my first architectural rendering commission.
I had to learn how to draw a perspective, then add the proposed upper story to the existing building – Building 15, home of the control center for the Launch Phase Simulator! That Summer, Dad had another project in mind. He said “build me a greenhouse.”
“I don’t know how to build a greenhouse,” I protested.
“You’ll Learn,” Dad shot back.
He introduced me to the wonderful gentlemen who ran Talbott Lumber Yard in Ellicott City, Maryland. They taught me how to use redwood to build the framework. The natural tannin in the redwood resisted rot. For glass, I bought a set of old storm windows. Dad gave me a budget of $50.00 each time he got his paycheck. I drew up my plans, took them to the County Planning Department and walked out with my first building permit!
I learned how to make a footing, lay block, and build a frame. We sited the greenhouse on the south wall of the house, right off of the laundry room, with the vent from the dryer discharging moist warm air into the greenhouse. Lint would be a problem. Mom provided us with a unique lint filter – an old stocking, to hang on the dryer vent. It became a conversation piece in the manner of the leg lamp.
Now a thirteen-year-old can do a lot of things, but the electrical work required a licensed electrician, which I was not. Dad had a friend at work who would perform just about any job in exchange for a bottle of Jack Daniels Black Label. Thus was my electrical subcontractor secured.
The greenhouse lasted many years, finally succumbing to the termites long after I left home. Dad’s lessons have stayed with me a whole lot longer!
