Welcome to Sister Power. I am Sharon Thomas Yarbrough. I am so excited, so excited. You've got queens here in the studio or at home virtually. You know the world of pageantry has inspired so many men and women to believe in yourself, to love yourself, to engage, share and connect with your community nationally and internationally. Today our Sister Power guest, Andrea Nicole Sledge, Executive Director of the All National World Beauties and Man of Distinction pageant, and Samantha Alexis Richardson, Executive Director, California All World Beauties and Man of Distinction pageant. Ladies, queens, welcome to Sister Power. Thank you so much for having us here and I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thank you for being here. You know, ladies and gentlemen, I want you to know that I just had a nice conversation with Andrea and we have a blessing that she just got over COVID. So we're so happy that we have her here on our show today. This Sunday, January 30th, Wake Forest alumna and former Miss USA, Chelsea Chris passed away by committing suicide. Chris death was an unimaginable tragedy that we rippled through the community, and I am so sure it rippled through the pageant. Samantha, you know, give me your thoughts on the loss of this beautiful, talented woman. She was an attorney as well. Talk to us. Well, you know, when I first found out about it, I was in disbelief, of course, just like the rest of the world.   And unfortunately, no one knew. The other thing is, is that it just lets you know that everybody goes through something you don't know, a person can look totally normal to you and be going through a lot. They could have the weight of the world on them and you would never know about it because they always cover it up with a smile, or just regular conversation that makes you think, okay, they're okay. But sometimes, like I said before, you just don't know. You don't know. Well, Andrea, you know, you've been in this business for a while. Give us your thoughts. So, just like them up like a lot of us have this. So here's the thing if hadn't for you carry a lot. We always expect it to be super poised super put together. There are some facets of pageantry that people feel that we are super human against and that's not true. You know, there is a lot put on us to perform. But with everything else that was on her plate with her going from being part of the Miss USA system, you know, she was actually working for the system, her working with extra, you know, still, you know, practicing attorney she was also back in school there was just a lot on her plate and a lot going on, but one of the main things that I always tell people and want them to know is that it's okay not to be okay. But it's not okay to constantly camouflage it with a smile when you know deep down inside you are screaming for help. You know, reach out, get the help that it is that you need. You know, one thing about the National War beauties pageant we're here for one another. You know, I may be their executive director but they know that they can call my phone at any hour. And I am always there for them, because we are a family. And I truly truly believe in that, you know, her loss of life to pageantry into all of us and what she meant to so many of us some that have met her some that have not. But her being a part of the dynamic trio that broke so many barriers of being you know, the first three, you know, where all of them were African American, the points of the larger systems at one time.   We will constantly be in prayer for her family for her mother. So I know that can be extremely hard for her. But it does send a resounding alarm to all of us that we don't have a strong friend, all of us need somebody at some point. And so we need to be cognizant of very aware of that. So I'm going to ask people are you okay. Right. Are you okay that's good advice Thank you. Samantha I'm going to come back to you. Tell us about some of your recent pageant titles awards give us a quick snapshot of your. I want to hear from both of you. Okay, so. Okay, well, I have been in pageantry from a good to my age here but about about over about 30 years or so I started in pageantry when I was about 12. So, and that's me over there. You know what I have won the title of USA National Miss that was 1997. And that was a title that was groundbreaking for African American woman to actually win that. And I was the first African American woman to win that. My age group of them is, and we had a team winner that was also African American that year so we, we were groundbreaking and we want to go on the cover of pageant life magazine and so that was, you know I feel like a pioneer, but there were so many before with the universal miss system. I was national plane of the few times different divisions and that pageant that was in Las Vegas. California, Mrs California plus America 2015. I won that title I came back as Mrs Golden State. I've won Miss cosmopolitan. I mean I have a list will be here for a minute but you know what the journey has been great. I think a high eight is out of pageantry for about 10 or 12 years because due to illness. I'm better now that I had to, you know, leave that and my sons and take care of them as well. But when I came back, I was plus size. So I was in a whole different, you know, age bracket for one, but also size. And so what I did I embrace that. I embrace every curve I had, and somebody says family to get back into pageants they have plus size pageants. So there I was on a brand new journey. I did plus America system before all world beauties but you know I was looking for that particular system that the system that I could call home. And when I found I talked to Andrea, I'm going to. This is how it happened I spoke to Andrea at the pageants in Atlanta, 2018. She took the time to talk to me. And you know I'm in a medical field so I feel like if you have a good bedside manner, people to actually take the time to actually talk to you and she did, even though she was the statistician for that pageant. And she took the time and talked to me about her system and told me that I could call her and I did and I checked into all world beauties did my research and, you know, the pandemic hit us we couldn't have our 20th anniversary then so we came back in 2021 and history is where I am. I am the national all world beauties Royal Ambassador 2021 and I couldn't be happier than I am now, and I just cherish my, my system, I cherish my title, and I'm working. Hey, Andrea. Yes, it was a quick snapshot of your pageant titles and awards. Well, I have over 26 state national and one international and lifetime titles. So, more recently, I competed in the all world beauty pageant before I became the owner of the system. I am the inaugural Miss Ultimate Queen, which is their high point winner. Their inaugural Ultimate Queen in 2015 and then I took over the pageant in 2017. And so I have been the owner and director for all world beauty since then, I am also the national all world beauties Queen of Queens number four.  And I will be competing in Virginia be Virginia in July so I'm very, very excited about that as well. I'm excited. How did you choose your platform. Oh man you know what everyone who knows me. They know I didn't choose my platform my platform kind of chose me.  Both of them.  It didn't. I didn't choose it it kind of chose me God gave me something that I definitely can't handle and I embrace it. I love them. I spread awareness with them, and by taking them out, letting them embrace the world and not keep them, you know, in the house. A lot of people keep their kids closed away. And I've never done that my sons, I even take to them on a minibus, you know, I have a car, but I want them to experience life. So anything that I can do for them to experience like they have. And that's what has made them the 20 year olds, soon to be 21 year olds. They are today they're very smart. And they're allowed to read before they got in school and they started at age three. That's when I noticed it. And so, I tell you the story that that's like that's a whole nother talk show. Well, I'm proud of you. Good for you. I mean that that's it's called love. That's really what it's called love. Andrea, how does women empowerment tie into pageantry. So women empowerment tie into pageantry is extremely important because a woman should come or man should come to your pageant and be strongly dedicated to the experience, meaning they believe different from when they came. Now our beauty pageant we believe wholeheartedly in equipping our kings and queens with everything that they need through our pillars of interviewing empowerment and service to help them to go out and leave the charge of change that they want to see in their communities. That's really what it's about. It's more than about wearing a sash and adorning a beautiful crown on your head. It really is about taking that opportunity and taking that moment for those doors that will be open to you for you to take and say, Hey, you know what, I'm going to make sure that I'm going to lay my footprint for other people to follow for people to know that I was here.  The reason why women empowerment is so important is because we should look to motivate one another and not compete with one another. That's what we should always do to look for. You know, we are nothing by competing against each other, but we earn everything by joining together. We're more powerful in numbers. And so what we try to do with the National All World Beauty pageant, even though we're competing is reach each other, teach each other be there for our sister, let her know that she's beautiful that regardless of what she needed or her why she came to compete in this period that she deserves to be here simply because she deserves to be here period. I love that attitude I do Samantha. Why did you choose all world beauties pageant. One reason I did this. I reiterate on it too was well Andrea was the first reason. Years ago, I had a director who took me by the hand after going through so much negative adversity, being the minority and a lot of pageant systems where I didn't stop. I refused to give up. I don't use the word camps. And I kept going until I started learning and I started to win. I went through a lot. But after that, I met a woman who took me by the hand and she showed me what good pageantry was about and she was a Caucasian lady back then.  That's what I was actually told and so, and I didn't believe that. So I kept going but this lady took me by the hand, and she taught me and her and I stayed with her and learn pageantry from the ground up. She traveled all over United States. We she did her all her own state pageants so we traveled everywhere and I was with her for about 14 years as her lifetime queen I became her lifetime queen, and I became her emcee and did all the shows and what I learned there I wanted to get back. And when I came back into pageantry I was looking for that pageant that represented me. And when I learned of the pillars that the pageant was aligned with interviewing empowerment and service that that was me all the way. That's who I am. That's how I've lived. And so meeting the executive director just from talking to her as you can see how she is here on this interview. That's what spoke to me and I knew that I had to do her pageant. And when I got there, I tell you the ultimate experience is one of the best experiences in the world. You are family. And that's what I wanted to be I wanted to be a part of a family. And it was mainly I have to say it was mainly her. If I had to choose one thing it was her and how she treated me. And that's what I needed, because that's how the lady and I'll mention her name this, like Linda Jatala took me by the hand and she just, she was just there present. And that's what Andrea did for me in 2018 and I've never been happier to the point you know I don't even want to go anywhere. But I love a WB. You don't have to you can stay right now. Okay. Well Andrea. How important is it, is it that we are our sister's keeper. It's extremely important that we are our sisters keeper just like when we open the show talking about Chesley Chris and what happened to her, you know, it's important that we truly truly truly seek to connect with our sisters. They feel that they have a safe place to share. That's why a lot of people don't. A lot of people don't share because they question the genuineness of the people that they're connected to sometimes, or feel that maybe you know the people that they have in their life a very surface level, but if you are truly your sister's keeper, then your sister knows that they can reach out to you for anything and everything, and be able to share with you and you won't make fun of them. You'll actually listen to them, whatever it is that they're going through whatever it is that they need, and know that they have a safe place and safe space in you, both physically and mentally to be able to be there for them for whatever it is that they need. But that's why it is so important for us to be our sisters keeper we are only as strong as our next sister. If we are allowing our sister who we know is struggling to struggle, then we're not being a good steward of the time and the presence that we have here. You know that God has given each and every one of us, you know God requires us to be present, and being our sisters keeper is being present. I love that. Amen.  Yeah, I hope that, you know, women, especially who are listening to sister power, they take that and walk away with it and hold it dearly, because it is, it's valuable about it's very valuable. So Samantha, where do you see yourself in five years. Oh, wow. Well, I see myself as being a successful business woman I have a lot of irons and the fire. So that but I see myself still being with the all world beauties organization, growing the state of California. All beauties and Man of Distinction pageants. I see myself being a part of helping others, helping other women empower them in our mission, the all world beauties mission we want to empower, we want to instill just the magic and the energy that we have into other people that we want to do with the ladies and the gentlemen, you know, just want to instill that so in five years I just see myself elevated from what I am today I'm as entertainer so I see myself at the Grammys look receiving my Grammy let me not forget about that because I am an entertainer. I am an entertainer. And that's a whole nother show to entertain it. But you know I just see myself actually elevating this pageant system with Andrea to get it on a network television. That's what we'll see. We're going to see ourselves there in five years. Amen. Amen. I'm loving this vision. I love it. I love it. I love it. So Andrea. What has been your favorite element of competition. My favorite element of competition is interview. And the reason why that's my favorite is because it really gives, you know, the judges and myself a good scope into who you really are.  So that is why I do love the interview because it really does get it's time to divulge directly into the person and their passion and why they're here and why they want to be here. I absolutely love love love interview. That's my favorite. Mm hmm. And that's a hard one to because those questions are just at the spare of the moment. I'm sure they are at the spare of the moment. No one knows what's going to be asked. Look, I was there. But, but one thing that I do love is that, you know, everybody answers their questions with grace and, you know, go through the process and, you know, able to answer honestly, which I do appreciate. So yes, but I do. I honestly love interview. That's my favorite. Wow. Samantha. Can't you tell? She's a great speaker. It's Samantha, explain to our sister power viewers, the three pillars, the three pillars. Okay, well, our three pillars are inner beauty empowerment and service. Your inner beauty to me is being able to show your beauty. Of course, your inner beauty because with me. Like I said, being the minority in pageantry years ago. I had to work and live from the inside out, because no one was seeing that outside beauty. So I had to show them who I was on the inside to exert that beauty so they can see it. And with the more and more and more, I didn't give up and try. They saw it.  So you have to be able to have that beautiful inner spirit in our beauties. That's what we want all the Queens and the Kings to have now empowerment.  You should feel empowered about that.  If you just help somebody that could just be helping someone in the simplest way I helped the lady with her grocery bags today. You know, that's to me that's empowering her to see another woman because usually it's a man running out there to help. Here's a woman who you might not have thought helped you so that's what I did or empower just by telling a woman when I see a good looking lady that's looking good I said girl you are wearing that dress girl you are doing that I've gotten a delegate by doing that to imagine just by saying that service well this pageant is so built on service. It is our duty to serve. You know, you should be able to not only serve yourself but serve others. I built my life around serving people even when I entertain I'm serving them. You never know when someone needs to feel better just by the gift of song, and I serve and use my gift to, you know the elderly people so you know and I serve in that way too but we are big on service really big on service you should be able to serve others and not just yourself. And those are all three of our pillars. And they're all wonderful. So, in closing Andrea. What tips and advice would you offer men and women who are interested in competing in gadgets. The tips that I would offer anybody who is considering competing in paradise whether you are male or female is just do it. You never know what opportunities could come from you competing in pageants are being involved in the pageant industry and one of the things I'll do is I'll share my small testimony really quick. When I first decided to compete in patents back in 2008 as an adult. I wasn't really sure, you know about what I wanted to do. But what I can say is that it has awarded me a lot of different opportunities. I have been on several national international media outlets CNN MSNBC, and even to a point where NBC actually came out to follow me and do an actual mini documentary about me and my role in pageantry and the Juneteenth pageant. So, you never know what could be on the other side of it. All you had to do was say yes, and let God just do the rest. Just take the journey. Just do it. The other thing that I would offer is perfect practice equals perfect performance. If there's anything that you want to expect out of this experience, make it to yourself to give 100% all the time to whatever it is that you're doing. No matter how big or how, no matter how big or small, just make sure that you do that and that you totally devote to it and the last thing I'll say is connect with your why you're doing something. And that will keep you always motivated to keep pushing forward. So those are my tips that I would provide to anybody that wants to compete in patentry. Ladies, Queens, thank you. You have motivated and powered and educated me. Thank you. Thank you for your wisdom. I'm Sharon Thomas Yarbrough Aloha.


In a bid to prioritise education in the country as panacea for nation-building and development, Labour Party Cardinal Central's senatorial candidate, Right Honourable Mohamed Sani, has paid fees for over 160 Cardinal students seeking admission into a various high institution of learning across the country. He says education in citizens, providing quality and good learning environment, guarantee future hope of the nation and younger generations. Plus, the venue is currently under heavy landerified fire in this report. Children of the vulnerable, orders and those who were able to pay their jam fees were visibly seen receiving support to further dedication on their dreams. Big Cardinal Central's senatorial candidate, who was represented by the director-general, champion council of the Solomon and Dambaki, says the gesture came due to the outcry of parents in the constituency who could not afford the registration fees due to the current economic hardship in the country. The DG stated that the humanitarian act came as a result of passions for education, noting that students are not honoured or addressed to vote for their candidates. While calling on well-meaning individuals in the state and Nigerians to show a sentiment and vote for credible leaders who can defend their cause when elected into office. Parents cried out that jam is closing and they do not have money to pay and due to lack of cash or scarcity of cash, we had to transfer to either the accounts directly or the accounts of their parents so that they can meet up with the deadline. It is above 160 humanitarian gestures. It is not a do me, I do you kind of thing. We are not saying that they must vote for us because we are systemed up to pay a jam. No, no, no, no, rather they should go and do well and excel. They are part of the Nigerian youth trying to see that they come into lamb light. The same thing will happen. Nigeria is going to be number one in Africa. One of the parents who could not hide a joy expressed gratitude to the candidate for his benevolence. I don't know how to express it, I feel so good and great. I never knew Nigeria would be something like this. When I had it, I didn't even believe. This is the first time, not if only my child now, roughly more than how many children are here to also participate in this. And we have never heard about this before. I believe this is a very good step. This is a good idea. If our leaders can do the same thing like this, I believe our country will be a great country. Some of the other beneficiaries expressed their delight and promised to do well in the academics. MSI brain for what he did for us. So he really did great for us. Most of us, we don't have people that can help us or can do something like that for us. So we really appreciate that for us to achieve our success in our life and to get back to our school so that we can finish our education. I feel happy. I'm excited. At least I'm part of it. I'm a beneficiary of it. I wasn't expecting it. So when I received a call, I was so excited. At least, the money I'm supposed to use, at least I'll use it for something else. Because I was looking, I was even looking for the money. I couldn't even have it so now when I received the call, I was excited. Hello. Hope you enjoyed the news. Please do subscribe to our YouTube channel and don't forget to hit the notification button so you get notified about fresh news updates.


Hey friends and welcome to Norris Cove on Yoshida and today you guys I have a Colton paper haul. So of course one is my stationery box which I think this is it because it's a little heavier and I have placed another order and as you can see sitting over here to the side is some monthly budget inserts that I'm working on. Well I've actually been working on them for quite some time. This is what it's supposed to look like but to be digital it looks like this and I'm not pleased with this so I'm still working on it because this is what I want it to look like. So I'm trying to figure that out and as you can see over here I have a tool notebook and that's what this first haul is about because if time permits I will set up my budget planner which is going to be the tool with my Colton paper. So I wanted those inserts to be ready so we'll just see. So let's jump right on in. Hold on I hope I don't knock nothing over. Hold on let me just move this out of the way. And you all have kind of seen how it comes. I'm just going to take this whole tissue paper situation out.  So it comes with this card it says ask for what you want and be prepared to get it. Listen I am all for this I got to put that in my planner because I've been asking for some things they're coming into petition and I'm loving it. So this tells you what's inside. So oh this must be the new contact inserts wishlist trackers inserts undated daily sampler inserts. I don't know if I'm saying this right. Atelier dashboard I think that I am atelier dashboard photo texture dashboard and real clock dashboard. So of course I've seen others open theirs and so I already kind of know what's in here. So I'll go through it really quickly. You all have probably seen everyone's you know hauls of this so I'll go through it really really quickly. New page flat color which is express so I like that. I think this yeah this is a sticky note date subject and it has the cloth and paper here. I like that I love a sticky note. And these are let's see. Two mites of this one. To my understanding like washi cards and like journaling cards. So also to my understanding this is like a picture of the cloth and paper ceiling and it's so interesting to me when they said that because I'm trying to picture it as a ceiling but I can't quite picture it. And this says j'adore j'adore. So j'adore. I'm trying to use my French way so this comes off on the back. You can feel free to leave it but I like it to be clear. I'm laughing at myself because I'm really trying to make this j'adore j'adore. Beautiful I like that. Okay and the next up is this June transparent journaling card and I also understand that this comes off on the back but some people wanted to leave it and it's really really on there so I didn't want to make it look bad but I'm just gonna take it off because I'm okay with the transparent and it's very light like you can barely see it. That maybe should have been in black but yeah I might just have to put something back I don't know. Anywho that's there and then you have another little card German card. I don't know if this was meant to be cut off like this but let's read it. My wish for I'm assuming for you is that life becomes all that you wanted to.  You never need to carry more than you can hold and while you're out there getting where you're getting to I hope you know somebody loves you. That's a very nice card. So it looks like everybody's came like that so maybe it was meant to be you know like that. And then here's another German card. The future is always beginning now. Be as you wish to seem. Old ways on open new doors you can if you think you can. This is really nice and this is like a grayish kind of smoky kind of color and then what I was kind of really excited about was this dirty shy child whatever a sticky note circle sticky note and I love a good sticky note and I'm filling the paper because this I had ordered some sticky notes from my shop I'm I'm pleased with them they don't look like what I ordered and the paper is really thin so I'm gonna send them back I just gotta get a hold so I'm trying to feel like if this is the same paper and it doesn't quite this is just a millimeter thick or whatever thicker but this is really nice I love a good sticky note my husband's at an office y'all so you're gonna hit a following so let's just ignore that and then we have these fondots so they're like more gray let me see and you all know that I have from my very first order with puff and paper I ordered like get all the sticky notes and shapes and things like that so I still have some of those left and I thought these were gonna be pointed because last month was on that paper and I didn't really care for that so this is on like the transparent yes okay yes okay and hexagons squares the tape and then the corners I love corners so that is perfect I like to keep it in the pack so I put that back I hope the noise doesn't bother y'all okay and I'm trying like what did I get before I got it for my mini HP so this is a wish list tracker so it looks like that I don't really need to open that I'll definitely add that to my mini so I switch my box kind of every month depending on which planner that I am focusing on so here's the dashboard of the ceiling again I think never like there's somebody up there no that's the part of that poll okay let's feel the paper person like here paper rattle so okay almost like a photo paper it's very shiny I don't see me using that right now but okay and then here is at Lear a workshop or studios especially especially one used by an artist or designer hmm and I'm sure this is on transparent paper thick transparent paper and that I think I will use that and then we have the world clock on transparent paper excuse me I'm sorry my words and I don't know if that's on transparent paper I probably do this a nice little dashboard and then you have contacts and I keep saying I'm gonna get a contact list and mainly not necessarily for like people I know but like businesses or something like that and I forgot my original idea for wanting a contact list but I'm gonna use this I think and then these are dealies and from what I understand so I may have to do my setup of my budget planner a little later plus I don't have the inserts that I want I don't have my inserts aren't ready so anyway this says you got your top three priorities you're to do your notes your schedule and then you're right in your schedule here and then you have this grid box here grid section and then an inspiration box and these are undated because I understand that you get so and this is your other daily you got your priorities in a box you have your date you have Monday through Sunday to do notes and schedule so I like that I'm gonna try my like it but I'm gonna definitely try those out and see how like I'm I'm pleasantly pleased with my dailies I'm using now which are by simple and trendy code but I always like to try new dailies because I am a daily planner so okay so that's it for the sub box now let's get into what I purchased for myself I thought this would have been the sub box so heavy so and this is just that thank you card which I love this is great as a dashboard I may use that as a dashboard so I got these I think it's like a set so a payday sticker may come in there let's see it says hey day oh to do urgent and to buy I don't know why I got these because I kind of make these but I'm you like them for my own I just haven't been into foiling so I'm gonna put these aside okay next up but I already have one of the notepads that think it came with one of my month's subscription box so this is a today notepad you all kind of seen how that is and I'm excited because I love sticky notes I love notepads plus I'm gonna take part this off and share with my husband and then I wanted a 2020 calendar for my mini HP I love cloth and papers monthly calendar and so this is the so this came with the yeah this is the dated so I got the dated so it has the days of the weeks on it and it has the months so of course the first six months I've just missed okay so I'm gonna leave the top page these pages it has the holidays in it and this is January so I'll go to June and yeah so I wanted that for my mini HP because I of course you all know I did my mini HP myself I wanted to make sure I was gonna use it before I invested a lot of money into it and I finally decided to break down and invest in her a little bit more that's what else is coming this week is a setup of my HP I'm redoing it I got some new discs of course and inserts and then wait a minute what is this this is the mini HP oh I'm like so this is the half letter so this is for my budget planner and I got the months in that so of course I'll be starting in June with that so that's for my half letter that's for my budget planner and lastly is project analysis now I know that paper bothers somebody so I just you know but I've been doing this in my not business I've done it in my business planner and I've done it in my mini so I wanted to get this for my business planner in a structured form so that way I can look at it and add to it and I don't have my business plan but I just want to add this to my business planner and it is the spot analysis strengths weakness opportunities and threats like I said you can take grid paper and you know do your own boxes and all that but I just wanted it to look aesthetically pleasing to me I didn't want it to look a little rough looking so that's why I got that so that ends my cloth and paper haul and this is everything that I got so I hope you guys let me check this out so we won't be able to get to this the half letter today but I'm going to set it up I want this to be able to sell to people but I don't think I'm gonna be able to do it because I'm just very particular I want this to look a certain way until I figure that out it'll just be for me like it's supposed to be on front and back so like this one is front and back so I don't know if you all can tell the difference and I may just go ahead and do it this way but I just don't like the look of it it's supposed to look like this so anyway nonetheless we'll set this up later I'm gonna be working on these budget inserts to my liking that way I can go ahead and set set that up and I'll definitely do a video on that so that is everything I hope you guys enjoyed this haul these are just some of the things that I really wanted to try so as you see I got them in different sizes I got a mini HP half a letter the notepad and a five and then in my subscription box I did our main HP now I have a mini not many what is a pocket planner coming a clear because I want to try the size so I thought about switching my next month to the pocket but I don't have the pocket yet because I ordered from China so I may just leave it in the mini HP or either I may switch it to have a letter I'm not sure but that's it I hope you guys enjoyed this cloth and paper haul I will see you guys in my next video don't forget if this is your first time watching any of my videos any of my content you enjoyed today's content and you would love to see more please do me a favor and hit that subscribe button also hit that notification bell and I'll see you in my next video


Black Duck Boys basketball looking for their ninth win of the season tonight against Northland. Star with some defense. Kobe Arp with a big swat. Offensively it was the Dylan Mowen show tonight. Just recently got his 1,000th point. Tonight he got a lot more. Taking it hard to the paint. Carving the defense apart. 47 points in tonight's contest. Also 19 for 20 on the line. Black Duck hits triple digits with a 105 to 64 win. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland news, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.


During the Second World War, the Soviet Union and the United States were united against a common enemy, but that cooperation deteriorated once that enemy was defeated. With the war over, the nation's ideological differences surfaced. The United States' democracy marked by capitalism and the Soviet Union's communist system, and a new conflict was born. The Cold War became a standoff, as both nations positioned themselves as technological leaders, in both needed ways to check and see if the other was telling the truth. This became harder once the Iron Curtain cut off communication between the Soviet bloc and the Western world. Classical forms of espionage with embedded spies became impossible, and rumors swirled that the Soviets were building an arsenal of high performance interceptor planes, bombers, submarines, missiles, and potentially even nuclear weapons under its shroud of secrecy. Russia needed to know what was really happening to prepare for the possibility of the Cold War turning hot, and for the first time, talk turned to peacetime aerial photo reconnaissance. Hello everyone, I'm Amy, this is The Vintage Space, my little home on the internet where we talk about all things mid-century that, quite frankly, interest me. Today we're starting something fun. I've wanted to really dig into Cold War aerial espionage for a while now, so this is part one of a series I'll be rolling out in the weeks to come, meaning now would be an excellent time to subscribe so you don't miss this deep dive that will cover the U-2, the Corona satellites, and the A-12 slash Oxcart slash SR-71. The story is huge, and I don't want to skip details and not do it justice. And I want to give you a heads up before we start. This is largely focused on American-Soviet relations. I know the plane flew in other regions, and we'll mention those, but we're looking primarily at Cold War and Soviet applications. Speaking of, let's get started at the very beginning of the story. During the American Civil War, Union forces had aeronauts rise above the countryside to get a sense of the enemy army's artillery and plans. The advent of aviation in the early 20th century meant members of the Air Corps could scope out enemy setups in planes rather than balloons in the First World War. The development of dry film meant these aerial crews could carry cameras to photograph enemy camps, taking that information back to their commanders who could plan the next move accordingly. Photo reconnaissance proved valuable, and advances in both aviation and photography in the 1920s and 1930s meant better cameras could fly in more sophisticated planes. In the Second World War, better aerial photos helped generals identify key targets for air raids and planned their forces' movements into enemy territory. But overflights in World War II were done over enemies, not allies, meaning the United States had no data about the Soviet Union. The countries were united during the war. So when the Cold War began, the United States had no idea what Soviet installations looked like or even where they were. Sparse insight came from interrogating prisoners returning from Soviet captivity and defectors from Germany who had flown recon missions over Russia. The information was useful, but quickly became dated. By the late 1940s, both the newly independent U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy were trying to update U.S. intelligence by flying RB-47s, the reconnaissance version of the B-47 bomber equipped with a camera. Using electronic ferret equipment, they'd find gaps in radar coverage along the border then dart into Soviet airspace to photograph their targets on these sensitive, intelligent or sense-it missions. But these penetration flights became significantly riskier in 1950 when the Soviet Union adopted a more aggressive policy about airspace violations and began attacking aircraft flying over the borders. The outbreak of the Korean War that same year extended this aggressive policy into the Far East over Soviet-backed North Korea. It marked a turning point in the Cold War. Faced with an increasingly aggressive enemy bent on expanding its area of influence, America's need for intelligence became more pressing, both for the sake of political decision-making and preparedness in the event that the Cold War turned hot. But how to carry out that reconnaissance wasn't immediately obvious. The increasing barriers and hostility in the airspace meant the Air Force's strategic air command couldn't gather data. So the Beacon Hill study group was formed to step in and explore what other options the U.S. government had to fill in its knowledge gaps. Members spent the first months of 1952 visiting bases, labs, and firms to look at new reconnaissance technologies. The resulting classified report, published on June 15, 1952, advocated radical approaches, including developing high-altitude reconnaissance airplanes with one major caveat. Avoiding political involvement was paramount. Missions would either have to gather intelligence while operating in friendly airspace, or the vehicle in question would somehow have to avoid detection or be impervious to interception. Ideally, though, it would be both, impervious to interception and invisible on radar. One of the strongest Air Force proponents for high-altitude reconnaissance was Richard S. Leghorn, one of the few men with first-hand experience in the matter. During the Second World War, Leghorn had commanded the Army Air Force's 67th Reconnaissance Group in Europe, and among his missions had been gathering pre-D-Day information. He'd spent weeks flying over the beaches at Normandy before the Allied invasion to help General Eich Eisenhower plan the Allied landing. The resulting June 6 invasion was stunningly successful in large part because of the photo reconnaissance. Now head of the Reconnaissance Systems Branch of the Right Air Development Command in Dayton, Ohio, Leghorn viewed the Cold War like another D-Day in a state of perpetual planning. Getting the upper hand was vital, quite literally. He knew altitude was key. The best Soviet interceptor of the day, the MiG-17, had an operational ceiling of 45,000 feet if the plane was pushed to its limits. Adding the range of the plane's artillery, Leghorn'd reason that a photo of Reconnaissance plane and it flying at 60,000 feet would be able to gather information while staying safe from counterattacks. But that was only half the argument in favor of high-flying planes, the other being evading detection. As far as America knew, the Soviet Union was using American-built radar acquired under the Lend-Delize program during the war in conjunction with a high-altitude tracking system. The best U.S. intelligence had determined the Soviets weren't using that high-altitude system as an early warning system. In short, the U.S. military knew the Soviet system's limitations and could exploit known gaps. The big unknown was whether the Soviets had updated the system. Flying into Soviet airspace at or above 65,000 feet represented a best guess on avoiding radar, but there was a chance that it was wrong. Leghorn directed the Right Air Development Command to start modifying the English electric company's Canberra into a photo of Reconnaissance plane called the PR-3. And before long, an all-new single-pilot Canberra with a high-lift wing, a Rolls-Royce Avon 109 engine, and a less stressed and therefore lighter airframe was in the works that, on paper, could reach 67,000 feet. But Air Force Brass wasn't interested in a specially built aircraft that only had peacetime uses. The service wanted a Reconnaissance plane that was also combat-ready, but that killed the altitude advantage. Modifying the PR-3 for combat, a version called the RB-57D added weight that translated to a 3,000-foot altitude penalty, which could be the difference between a safe flight and a flight intercepted by enemy weapons. When a British flight in a modified Canberra was detected and nearly shot down over Kaputstin Yar while flying at 65,880 feet, it became clear altitude wasn't worth sacrificing for combat readiness. Leghorn eventually grew so frustrated by his lack of support at the right air development command that he transferred to the Pentagon in early 1952 to work under Colonel Bernard Schreiber, assistant for development planning to the U.S. Air Force deputy chief of staff for development. Now Leghorn was responsible for planning the Air Force's Reconnaissance needs and it finally began serious research. In the second half of 1952, the Air Research and Development Command awarded the Martin Company a contract to study Leghorn's idea of adapting the B-57 bomber into a photo of Reconnaissance plane. At the same time, the right air development command in Ohio awarded study contracts to the Bell Aircraft Company and the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Company to design new planes with operational radii of 1,500 nautical miles and cruising altitudes of 70,000 feet. In January of 1953, Ike Eisenhower took office and brought new eyes to the issue of needing knowledge about goings on behind the Iron Curtain. He was disappointed in the quality of intelligence about the Soviet Block, the nearly decade-old photography that only covered the area west and the Ural Mountains, of all the massive land that is the Soviet Union. What little intelligence America had said the Soviet Union was taking strides rather than steps forward in its development of weapons. There was growing concern after the Soviets detonated an atomic bomb in the summer of 1949, then a lithium-deuterium bomb in August of 1953 that was technologically more advanced than anything the U.S. had. In the summer of 1954, U.S. intelligence found a new Soviet long-range bomber called Myasezhchev-4, or named Bison by NATO, that presented a threat to U.S. bases. The perception of a gap thus evolved over Eisenhower's first year in office and it left him greatly unnerved. He wanted less guesswork and more solid reconnaissance to figure out how he should position the United States policy and prepare for possible Soviet action. Director of Central Intelligence Alan Dulles was also keen for Eisenhower to take a more aggressive stance in the face of a powerful enemy threatening peace throughout the world. By now, the president had a few options to choose from. The U.S. Air Force had proposals for three new reconnaissance planes. Their child submitted the M195, Bell presented the Model 67, renamed X-16 in an attempt to hide its true purpose, which is a very strange use of the X designation, and Martin pitched the Model 294, which was a version of the B-57. They were all similar, but the Air Force favored Martin's plane as an interim design while Bell developed the X-16. Coincident with these three bids reaching the Air Force, the Lockheed Aircraft Company submitted its own wholly unsolicited design. The Air Force's pursuit of a high-altitude reconnaissance plane reached Lockheed through the grapevine in the fall of 1953. Assistant director of Lockheed's advanced development program, John H. Jack Carter, learned about it from Eugene Keifer, his old Air Force colleague who is now at the Pentagon. Speaking off the record, Keifer opined that the Air Force was wrong to pursue a plane that was both tactical and strategic. A purpose-built vehicle would be best all around. Carter brought the conversation back to officials at Lockheed who okayed his idea of drawing up a bid for the plane, and it wasn't long before Clarence L. Kelly Johnson joined the skeleton team. Kelly Johnson was already a highly regarded designer, with hugely popular planes to his name, including the P-38, the P-80, the F-104, and the Constellation. He loved the challenge of this high-altitude reconnaissance plane and immediately thought of the F-104. It was one of the most streamlined designs he'd ever worked on, and he reasoned that its body, paired with the high aspect ratio sailplane wings, could create the high flying plane of the Air Force's dreams. Without doing a detailed engineering study and ignoring some Air Force specifications that were more combat than reconnaissance, Johnson developed a conceptual design. He married the F-104's fuselage with large detachable wings and tail connected by tension bolts to keep the weight low. So to keep weight down, he designed a jettisonable wheeled dolly for takeoff, coupled with detachable pogos to stop the wings from dragging on the ground. For landing, he used skids paired with a reinforced belly rib. To free up as much space and weight as possible for photographic equipment, he left the cockpit unpressurized. He used the same General Electric J73 non-afterburning engine that powered the F-104. A single one was more than powerful enough for the plane. As per Johnson's initial design, the plane loaded with 600 pounds of sensors and camera equipment could reach 70,000 feet with a 2,000 mile range. Called the CL-282, the plane was, in effect, a jet-powered glider. In May of 1954, when Johnson finished his proposal, he attached a price tag of $28 million for 20 airplanes, each fitted with a GE J73 engine. The CL-282 proposal reached General Curtis LeMay, commander of the Air Force's strategic air command, and he wasn't interested. LeMay was happy enough to add a camera to the B-36 and just call it a day. The CL-282 made the rounds around Air Force groups in the first half of 1954 and was passed over again and again. Some people didn't like a plane that relied on the unproven J73 engine that had no track record flying above 70,000 feet. Some were put off by the lack of traditional takeoff and landing gear. Others didn't like the risk of a single engine design. But for all the detractors, there were a handful of Air Force brass who saw the value of the unconventional plane. Most vocal among them were three men with backgrounds in photoe reconnaissance. Special Assistant for Research and Development to the Air Force Secretary Harold E. Talbot Trevor Gardner, Gardner's assistant Frederick Ayers Jr., and one of Talbot's advisors, Garrison Norton. Knowing the Air Force wouldn't support the CL-282, but convinced the design was worth pursuing, they sought another path for approval and took it to the CIA. They met with Chief of Operations staff in the Office of Scientific Intelligence, Philip G. Strong, on May 12, 1954, six days before the Right Air Development Command started evaluating the proposal. Strong agreed to take the CL-282 to the newly hired Special Assistant for Planning and Coordination, Richard M. Bissell, who was also the CIA's leading advocate of technical over human intelligence gathering. Strong also took the CL-282 to Director of Central Intelligence, Alan Dulles, whose personal conviction was that classical forms of espionage with human agents were better than any new technological method. It seemed that, within the CIA, like with the Air Force, the CL-282 had its proponents, but the top-level brass wasn't on board with the radical design. Lockheed got a formal rejection letter from the Air Force on June 7, 1954, but the company kept honing the CL-282 design. In the latter half of 1954, advocates of the CL-282 increasingly thought of it as an integrated intelligence system, a cutting-edge plane and camera that, working in tandem, could answer questions about the Soviet's capabilities and, most notably, help answer the question of the bomber gap. At the same time, Eisenhower was increasingly in need of guidance on how to incorporate science into his policy and decisions. Motivated in part by the Air Force's lack of work on the photo reconnaissance issue, the president requested a new task force. The resulting technological capabilities panel brought together some key minds, including Eisenhower's science adviser James Killian as Director of the Steering Committee. The group existed to advise on Eisenhower's main concern about the possibility of a surprise attack from the Soviets, earning it the nickname of the Killian Surprise Attack Committee. From Eisenhower's perspective, he saw the open system of the United States as, quote, faced by a closed communist empire which has lost none of its ambitions for world conquest, but which now possessed an airplanes and guided missiles armed with nuclear weapons, an ever-growing capability for launching surprise attacks against the United States. The American system was so open that books designed to educate American citizens about its nuclear testing program contained maps and details about locations of testing sites. If an ordinary citizen could walk into a bookstore and gain that information, so too could any of the Soviet spies Eisenhower knew were in the country. The longer the American system remained open in the face of the closed communist system, the bigger the threat to America. And it wasn't just not knowing what weapons the Soviets had or where they were tested. Not being able to verify claims of number or kind of weapons meant the Soviet leaders could threaten action purely to elicit a reaction out of the United States. The Soviets could launch a dangerously effective propaganda campaign. To those responsible for America's security, it was a terrible arrangement. As Eisenhower put it, our relative position in intelligence compared to that of the Soviets could scarcely have been worse. The technological capabilities panel considered overflights, and when it found out about the CL-282, immediately saw it as the best option for a photo reconnaissance program. Not only was the plane revolutionary, members saw the potential of loading it with all kinds of esoteric photography equipment to get a complete picture of what was happening in the Soviet Union. It fell to a subgroup called Project 3 to undertake a detailed study of possible overflights. In October of 1954, under land's guidance, Project 3 drafted a whole proposal for a program using the CL-282, and the proposal defined the program as non-military. Project 3 wanted overflights done in civilian, unarmed, unmarked planes and thought the CIA was best suited to carry out this mission. But the idea was so sensitive it was omitted from the original report. Alan Dulles was reluctant to have the CIA run the overflight program. He didn't want the agency to get involved in what he felt was a military endeavor, especially because of his personal preference for human agents and secret communication. Land disagreed. In a letter to Dulles on November 5, 1954, he wrote that technological espionage is exactly, quote, the kind of action and technique that is right for the contemporary CIA, a modern and scientific way for an agency that is always supposed to be looking to do its looking. Dulles was also drawn to Kelly Johnson's proposed timeline. He said Lockheed could deliver the first plane by August 1955, which is almost a year sooner than Bell promised the Air Force it could have the X-16 in the air. In November of 1954, James Killian, Foster Dulles, Secretary of Defense Charlie Wilson, Alan Dulles, Air Force Chief of Staff Nathan Twining, Assistant Chief of Staff for Research and Development Donald Putt, and a handful of other advisors went to see Eisenhower for authorization for the overflight program. Their proposal was $35 million for 30 CL-282 planes, which Dulles flagged as a challenge. There was no way the CIA could spend that kind of money without revealing the program. People would follow the money and ask questions. That, however, wasn't considered an insurmountable issue. Go ahead and get the equipment, Eisenhower told the group, adding, but before initiating operations, come in to let me have one last look at the plans. Eisenhower's main stipulation was that the CL-282 program be carried out in an unconventional way to disassociate it from the bureaucracy of the Department of Defense or any other messy inter-service rivalry. Strong advocacy from Killian, the Air Force's refusal to develop the plane and Eisenhower's approval finally forced Dulles on board. He consented to have the CIA run the CL-282 overflight program. The last holdout was the Air Force, which finally agreed to support the CIA in development and applications, but it still wasn't giving up the X-16 as a backup system. As of November 19th, 1954, the overflight program using the CL-282 was on the books as a joint CIA Air Force program run by the agency but with military support as needed. And true to the project's secretive nature, things kicked off without fanfare. On November 26th, Dulles called Richard Bissell into his office, told him the program was his, and handed him a packet of sensitive documents to get him started. The new photo of reconnaissance program was officially underway, but there was a strange uncertainty hanging over the whole thing. There was an un-spoken understanding by all players that the international situation could change on a dime and negate the need for overflights entirely, or, alternatively, make overflights too dangerous both politically and for the pilot's safety. Everything about it was tenuous. Nevertheless, it was also now tangible. The program was finally given a name, Project Aquatone. Everyone involved in Aquatone knew security was paramount. Any leak at home or abroad could compromise the whole endeavor. To limit the number of people who knew it even existed, Richard Bissell made it completely self-contained. The program had its own contract management, admin personnel, financial department logistics, communications, and even security personnel made largely from his own staff. But the program quickly outgrew these minimalistic routes to include 357 people, between the CIA, the Air Force, and Lockheed as the prime contractor. On the Lockheed side, the go-ahead to build the CL-282 came via a phone call to Kelly Johnson on December 1, 1954. While engineers started on the flight article, negotiations got underway with un-vouchered funds. It was effectively a good faith arrangement wherein the contractor started building the plane under the understanding that money would come eventually. It was a mark of how seriously Lockheed, and specifically Kelly Johnson, took this project that work began with no money. In mid-December of 1954, Eisenhower authorized Allen Dallas $35 million from the agency's Reserve Contingency Fund for the CL-282 program, and with it offered a bit of a loophole. According to a 1949 law, the Director of Central Intelligence didn't have to account for these funds publicly or go through the process of competitive bidding with contractors and subcontractors. Thus Allen Dallas had access to the funding he needed, could expedite transferring those funds, and simplify production and procurement chains. On December 22, 1954, the first CIA Lockheed contract was signed under the code name Orphish. The agency gave Lockheed tech specs rather than performance specs, a semantic difference that gave the contractor far less rigid requirements, and therefore allowed for better use of available funds. Lockheed's portion of the overall program budget was $22.5 million to build 20 planes and a two-seat trainer and spares. The U.S. Air Force would provide the engines, saving the CIA the cost of the power plants. The balance of the CIA funds was allocated to other elements, including the camera and life support systems. To get things moving while negotiations finished on the contract, Bissell wrote Kelly Johnson a check for $1,256,000, and there's something right after that figure that's redacted in the report. On February 21, 1955, and popped it in the mail. The final contract was signed on March 2, 1955 and called for delivery of the first plane that July and the last one in November of 1956. From the start, Kelly Johnson housed the CL-282 in the Advanced Development Facility at Lockheed's Burbank offices, the famed Skunk Works Maximum Security Facility that was home to its black programs. Johnson also kept the team confined to a small space, both for security and workflow. He wanted the engineers and draftsmen no more than 50 feet from the assembly line, so if there were any problems or questions, the issue could be solved by walking over to the plane rather than a series of inter-office memos. With this somewhat informal setup in place, the Lockheed team got to work on the plane they soon nicknamed Angel because it was designed to fly so high. The CL-282 moved from concept to flight article. Reusing the fuselage from the F-104 meant Lockheed could also reuse the jigs and dies from this other plane, simplifying things. The only unique elements of the new plane were the wings and tail. It emerged towards the end of 1954 as an unconventional design, 63 feet long with a wingspan of 103 feet. The peak altitude of 70,600 feet raised a new challenge, finding a fuel that wouldn't evaporate. A solution came from Jimmy Doolittle, aviation pioneer and former Army General who was now VP of Shell Oil. He had the company develop a low-volatility, low-vapor kerosene known as LF1A, JPTS, or JP7 that had a boiling point of 300 degrees Fahrenheit at sea level. That fuel was stored in leak-proof compartments in the wings extending through all but the last six feet of space, meaning the CL-282 had wet wings rather than wing tanks. There was also a 100 gallon reserve tank in the nose. The plane's takeoff speed was 90 knots and was assisted by jettisonable reusable pogos under the wings to keep them level and off the ground. Landing speed was 76 knots and done on lightweight landing gear consisting of a single ollie of strut, two wheels toward the nose, and two solid-mount wheels under the tail. After touching down, procedure had the pilot gradually tilt the wings to rest on skids that kept them off the ground. The whole landing assembly weighed just 208 pounds but could support a 7-ton aircraft landing. The large sailplane-inspired wings gave the plane a total glide distance of 244 nautical miles from its peak altitude of 70,000 feet for a glide ratio of 21 to 1. The high aspect ratio and low drag of the wings that gave it such a formidable gliding ability were among the most challenging design elements in the CL-282. The plane needed a lot of fuel for its long journey but it also couldn't carry so much that the weight of that fuel impacted its ability to reach its peak operational altitude. To free up weight for fuel, Johnson designed the wings and tail assembly to connect to the fuselage with tension bolts, a row for the wings and just three for the whole tail assembly. This also freed up weight for instruments and cameras. The reconnaissance bay had a weight limit of 450 pounds. Though the tension bolt arrangement for the wings and tail was a great solution in terms of weight, it created a new problem. It made the plane vulnerable to gusts of wind at altitudes below 35,000 feet where the air pressure was strong enough to seriously damage the fragile connecting structure. The solution was a gust control mechanism, again inspired by sailplanes, that effectively set the ailerons and horizontal stabilizers in a position that kept the plane in a slightly nose-up attitude that offered protection against sudden stresses. But it wasn't just gusts of wind that presented a threat. Even on a nominal mission, if the plane flew too fast, too slow, or to slightly wrong attitude, stresses on the airframe could rip it apart. Pilots had to be immensely careful to keep the plane in that slightly nose-up attitude at operational altitude. If the nose dropped a degree or two in a nose-down pitch, the plane could gain speed and exceed the placarded limit in less than a minute, at which point it would come apart. Managing speed meant paying close attention to instruments because flying above 65,000 feet gives no physical sensation of speed, and there aren't objects like nearby clouds to use as a reference. It was theoretically easy for a pilot to overspeed and not even realize it before it was too late. On the flip side, if the plane slowed and stalled, the forces associated with its fall could also rip the plane apart. This is the famous, or maybe infamous, coffin corner. The difference between stall speed and overspeed was just six knots. Flying the CL-282 took serious concentration for the pilot to maintain aircraft trim as it consumed fuel since this affected weight as well as balance. The plane had a complex system of feedlines and valves that drained to a central sump, making it impossible for a simple fuel gauge to display levels. The pilot only had a mechanical counter to manage his consumption. Ground crews set the counter at the start of the mission and it automatically subtracted the amount of fuel as it was used in flight. The pilot kept a log of fuel readings and matched it to what planners said levels should be at given points in the mission. Another method was simply tracking airspeed and time to determine fuel usage. With all the pilot had to manage during the flight, Lockheed and the CIA needed to ensure his life support system didn't add to his task list. That job fell to Dr. William Randall Randy Lovelace and Don Flickinger, two pioneers of aviation medicine each with decades of experience. From a human factor standpoint, the challenge came from the cockpit being pressurized to just 28,000 feet, which is higher altitude than humans can survive without additional oxygen. Again, this was a decision designed to save weight. During the CL-282, meant the pilot would need some kind of pressure suit, and Lovelace and Flickinger suggested the David Clark Company as the manufacturer. The final solution was a partial pressure suit that, coupled with the pressure in the cabin, kept him safe from the dangers flying at high altitude. If the cabin pressure dropped, the suit would inflate to keep the pilot safe. He got a steady flow of oxygen through his helmet. Mission rules said he would pre-breathe the oxygen before a flight to purge his blood of nitrogen. An external bladder allowed him to urinate on the flight, and a low bulk, high-protein meal diet the day before and the morning of a mission reduced the likelihood of bowel movements. The pilot could drink sweetened water by a straw he could push through a small, self-healing hole in his faceplate. Ready to eat foods were on hand in squeezable containers, and many pilots opted for hard candies to keep their throats from getting dry. Another thing added to the cockpit for pilot safety was a suicide pill.  The plane was so fragile, everyone involved in the project assumed it would disintegrate in the unlikely event that something knocked it out of the sky. Nevertheless, the decision was made to include suicide pills to spare the pilot torture in the very unlikely event he was captured. Dr. Alex Batlin of the Technical Services Division suggested a thin glass cyanide pill like the one Hermann Göring used to kill himself. It would have fatal effects within 15 seconds, and taking it on a mission was the pilot's choice. Some opted to take it, most did not. As Eisenhower wrote about the need for suicide pills in his memoirs, this was a cruel assumption, but I was assured that the young pilots undertaking these missions were doing so with their eyes wide open and motivated by a high degree of patriotism, a swashbuckling bravado, and certain material inducements. Their worry for pilot safety was ejecting, many worried that they could lose their legs below the knee ejecting because the suit made the cockpit so tight. The plane's technical development and human factors considerations were only part of the overall program. The final piece that was turned the CL-282 into a true reconnaissance platform was a camera. The important thing when talking about cameras for aerial photo reconnaissance is focal length. Focal length is the optical distance from the point where light entering into the lens converges to form a sharp image in the film that captures that image. The longer the focal length, the narrower the angle of view and the higher the magnification. Standard cameras measure focal length in millimeters. Photo reconnaissance cameras measure focal length in inches. To give you a sense of the difference, depending on the type of lens and distance to the target, the focal length for an SLR sits between 18 millimeters and 300 millimeters, which is 0.7 to 11.8 inches. Photo reconnaissance in the Second World War had primarily used the Fairchild K-19 and K-21 framing cameras that had lenses of focal lengths between 24 and 40 inches. The Tri-Metregon K-17 mapping camera came into use late in the war and debuted a setup with three cameras working simultaneously for vertical, oblique right, and oblique left pictures, revealing a wide swath underneath the plane. The problem with the setup was that it used a lot of film, and the oblique photographs didn't have a ton of definition. Advances post-war meant standard cameras could resolve things about 20 to 25 feet across from an altitude of 33,000 feet, but at twice that altitude, that resolution wouldn't be enough. For good intelligence, the images needed to resolve objects 10 feet across at the largest to determine what was going on at a missile installation or test site. Photos would need to be at least four times more powerful to make the CL-282 a viable system. James G. Baker took on the challenge of developing this new camera in October of 1954, before aquatome contracts were even in place. He knew time wasn't something the program had in excess. And he did it out in the open to avoid hang-ups of classified documents, in effect hiding his camera right in the open. He started with an existing camera for an interim model while he worked on something custom-built for the CL-282. This iteration, called the A1, used two 24-inch K38 framing cameras with lenses adjusted for acuity. One was mounted vertically to photograph a 17.2 degree swath below the plane using a 9.5-inch film. The other was set in a rocking mount, so we could alternatively photograph the right and left obliques out to 36.5 degrees onto separate rolls of 9.5-inch film. The film supplies unwound in opposite directions, so the forces didn't unbalance the plane in flight. The A1 also used a Perkin Elmer tracking camera with a 2.75-inch film and a 3-inch lens for continuous horizontal scanning photographs. The backup was a K17 6-inch 3-camera Trimetrgon using 9-inch film. An additional visual aid was a periscope to help pilots recognize targets. By the spring of 1955, the CL-282 was getting sufficiently close to flight tests. The question of where to test it was easier to solve than the larger question that haunted Eisenhower, would the plane be safe to use? And that's where we're going to end the story for this video. Like I said up front, this is the first in a series. Up next we're going to be looking at the first U2 missions, followed by a deep look into the powers incident and its effects, then moving into corona satellites and finally the A12 ox cart slash SR-71. Quick reminder that my new book, Fighting for Space, is available however you like to consume books, as is my first, Breaking the Chains of Gravity. I have links for both of those in the description below. I want to give a special shout out to my Patreon supporters and YouTube members. You guys truly make these videos possible, thank you so much for your ongoing support. If you want to help keep these videos going and want to have access to the vintage space discord, I've got the links you need in the description. I've also got links to connect on social media, that's the best way to keep up with what I'm doing, and that's it. Thank you guys so much for hanging out throughout this entire video, and I will see you next time.


What's up, everybody? It's Eric Johnson from Aritae Throws Nation. In today's video, we are going to do a quick technical comparison between Olympic champion Ryan Krauser and Olympic finalist Zane Weir of Italy, amazing throwers. So let's check it out. OK, guys, so here is what we're going to do is we're going to look at two different throwers. Clearly, Ryan Krauser is the greatest of all time. He is just going to continue to build on a legacy of consistency and massive distances. And it's going to be exciting to see is he going to break his own ruled record, you know, how many times that's going to happen. The guy is absolutely incredible. He's a technical machine, physical specimen and just the consistencies off the charts. Zane Weir is a guy who just rose literally up from kind of obscurity to all of a sudden boom at the Grace Olympic finalist fifth place. If you haven't checked out our thrower X interviews and podcasts, check that out. Great interview. Super cool young guy and really interesting story, but pound for pound really exciting at the games when he threw just over 70 feet, he was weighing roughly about 245 pounds. That is absolutely insane. And so some people ask, well, God, he must have amazing strength numbers and that's what's scary. He doesn't, but he's doing a lot of good things technically and it clearly speaks to the level of athletic ability this guy has. So here are two absolutely phenomenal athletes, two of the greatest, you know, athletes of all time. If you're fifth at the Olympics, you have etched your place in history. But Ryan Krauser clearly the the dominant legend versus another young thrower who is like I said, just really burst onto the scene with an amazing Olympic performance. So let's that being said, lots of intro and lots of talk. Let's do this. So we're going to take a look. Now again, for those of you out there, our whole system is about a chain reaction. We're showing connection between what you do at the start and how that influences and sets up a finish that's going to be successful or not. So here's what I like to do. I don't coach these athletes clearly. I've had the opportunity, you know, briefly a few years ago, I got to just kind of ask Ryan a couple of questions.  And I've had the opportunity to talk with his dad and I've had an opportunity to interview Zane. So I do have a tiny bit of insight. But again, I don't coach these guys. I have no idea. Of course, I don't coach these guys because if I did, everybody would know that. But the point is that these guys do some really phenomenal things and we do have a little bit of insight. So let's take a peek here. So pillar one, we talk about it. And Zane, when we talked, he's a very feeling based thrower. So when we talk about Krauser, the the limited time, I think he's a very feeling based too. But he's also an amazing technician. And so when we look at this, we look at like first fall is the setup in the wine. So when we go, we set up this is what we call pillar two. This is what we call setting up maximum power. And you're going to notice the time of their lengthened out, the chest stays forward. And it has to be there's a window. It can't be too far forward can't to be too far back. You have to have this motion because as you move, as we call pillar two to three, moving here and then moving into the throw, right, this is going to be the key. You're going to notice that both of these throwers really get that left foot facing the direction of the tow board. And when the heel can be down, right, this is one of the things you'll catch in that interview with Zane. If the heels a little lower, that's going to help position the center of mass and allow the athlete to sprint into the circle better. So sometimes people advocate higher heel or there's a comfort zone. And again, you'll notice everything we talk about when we're talking about technique and coaching inside with our six pillar system, we're talking about windows, there's a there's optimal and there's suboptimal, right? And then there's, there's that perfect spot. If you if you go outside of that window and a lot of these technical positions, the whole throw falls apart. So that's the physics and the mechanical aspect. So now what we do is when we taught this, this is the sprint. And one of the things that you'll notice where Krauser's chest is up, everything, the shoulders and hips are super levels. But you're going to notice this, we talk about level shoulders, level hips. And we're going to talk about so you're going to see Zane's got pretty level hips, but he starts to dip this, but it's not bad.  And I would agree with that. But there's a lot of really good things he does. What's the key with both of these things? How fast do they get to the middle? And you're going to notice when they get to the middle, they're really quick. And you're going to notice that Krauser is starting to kind of torque the position. You're going to notice that the left foot is getting closer to the toeboard faster. The faster you can get that left foot back on the ground or that block leg foot back on the ground, allow the delivery leg and to be working around and into the finish. The further you're going to throw because it's faster and it's more ground time when you're in the air, some people teach jumping up and kind of landing in the middle. That is slow. You don't want to do that. And you think if you look here, now what's impressive about weirs, again, like I said, 63, 245 pounds and not super strong versus six, seven ish, 320 pounds and really strong. So this is why this is a 76 foot throw and why this is a 70 foot, you know, and a half foot throw, right? So amazing competition. So when you see this, this will be called again, pillar four, you see that stretch and you see all that stretch, that stretch reflex is going to create this whipping action to open that arm, the ground to get down on the ground. So now they can work. And what you're going to see is I love how Crouser stays. He lifts, right? We talk about lifting the shot, but he stays low to the ground. So he's going to get loaded on the legs and he's going to really crank that hip. You see how that hip cranks through and notices angle of release.  So that's interesting. So don't try to throw too high. The most optimal angle is around 35, 37 degrees kind of that kind of range 36 degrees, I think is most optimal. So this is where you want. If you go above 38, I think it's getting too high. And if you're below 34, it's too low. So so just the key things here, what do these guys really do from a simple technical standpoint, the things that you want to understand is they are moving always. We always talk about this. They move around the axis. This is what we call pillar two to three, right? They're on balance. They've got everything. The sweep leg is wide. This is a counterbalance, right? This is long. This is long. That's a counterbalance. If if this goes narrow, that's going to lead to over rotation. And that is a problem. So we go with that. After we've come out of that, now we've got to keep the hips underneath the shoulders. That's that's most optimal. You're going to notice that Krauser does that extremely well. And now you're going to see how the shoulders though again, Zane does a great job of level shoulders. You're going to watch Krauser. He's going to level that out. He's really torqued. The arm opens out long. This is really key. This arm has to go this way. We've talked about that for years. People have seen that on on YouTube videos. We posted up five, six years ago. We've always taught to take that arm out. That's going to be the counterbalance. Look at the position here. This allows for the axis to stay here. Look from the hip to the ankle. Look from the hip to the ankle, right? You're going to see that look where the chest is and look how that arms out. That's going to allow the throws to come up and look at how square both of these throws are. So Krauser incredible. Look at how the shot stays low and where the elbow is super important. Look at this again. Now you're going to notice his is just a little higher, right? And you're going to notice that Zane has the more traditional rotational throw or long arm, whereas Krauser kind of pulls it in a little bit. And when I had asked his dad one time, I said, is that a conscious thing? Or, you know, and he says, you know, it's kind of just the byproduct because he glided for a long time. So he still has a little bit there. But you'll notice it is very rotational. And if you ever look at a throw of Krauser out of high school, you're going to notice he kind of has that rotational glide finish. So clearly it works extremely well. Look at as he comes through, but you're going to notice right here just a little bit of difference in height. Now you're going to notice when we chalk off the height of release that Krauser is a little bit lower. So that's important as a rotational throw because speed is the key. If it gets too high, it's that parabolic curb too high. It's going to come short too low. It goes short. You want to find that sweet spot. And that's one of the things you're looking for. Okay, guys. So just, you know, just kind of throwing some insights as a huge fan. What are the things that they do well? And again, you're going to notice that they move around as this is traditional. This is what our six pillars are about teaching the throw and ultimately teaching coaches and throwers how to identify your individual need as a thrower. And these are two different guys with two different styles, but mechanically, essentially the same positions. That's what our six pillars again teach. And then our pillar drills and stuff are meant to formulate how do you optimize your movement at each of the six pillars. So at any rate, these guys are awesome. It's just fun to look at. Look at all the technical things. But generally, what did you want to take away is looking at getting on the ground, staying on balance. Where's the path of the sweep and the balance arm through the finish. And now you're going to watch as they square up, stay square and level, turn and twist through. Zane does that extremely well. So does Krauser. He's lifting a little higher. And I don't know. I would think over time, maybe as that comes down a little less, I think that will increase distance for him. And he will continue him and his coach will continue to perfect technique. And it's interesting to just look at some of the subtle changes in Krauser from 2016 to now. And he's obviously just more refined and throwing bigger distances and everything else. So these are just two great examples of what really good rotational shot put technique looks like. And look at the difference between a 70 foot throw and a 76 foot throw. Pretty awesome. And hopefully you guys enjoyed that. Now again, if you did, be sure to hit that like button. Super helpful for us. Throw some comments. If you'd like anything or anything you have any questions about this video or other videos you'd like to see, hit it in the comments below. And of course, if you're looking for coaching information, check out our throwing chain reaction system link in somewhere around this video, probably down below in the description. Okay, guys, you guys have a good one and we'll see you on the next video.


Jerry of the circus I'd say that that would indicate we're closing in on them. You really think so and we're so close to capture They don't feel it safe to operate and I hope you're right Adley I think I am and I have a feeling I'll make my catch within the next 24 hours Oh, I haven't talked with you since you checked on the strongman Belko. Did you get anything on him? No? You're right. He's quite harmless. I checked he's ever moved for the past nine years only to find that He's been going around the country with small shows and carnival. He didn't strike me as being dishonest Oh, I think Belko hasn't anything to do with this. What about spike anything more on him? Well, there is and there isn't. What do you mean? Well, he's still spending his spare time in libraries reading up on animals But I found something that doesn't look so good. What's that? Well, he left the library yesterday I checked on the books he was reading as I usually do and I found a book on the table He was using among the animal books. Yeah, it might have been just a coincidence But it was a book on lithography. What? Yeah quite a complete book on lithography and engraving There was a chapter in it on printing of money and stamps Hmm, I can't say for certain that he was reading it, but it was among the other books He'd been looking through you almost got me thinking the way you do about spike, you know Hadley You detectives are very much all alike once a man has been in jail You do everything you can to get something on him and send him back Oh, not at all, Mr. Randall The only reason we have for watching an ex-criminal is the fact that so many times they go right back to breaking the law when they're released from prison If an ex-convict shows up at the scene of a crime, he's a good suspect at least worthwhile following Yeah, but spike never was a lawbreaker. Oh, I know Mr. Randall We've gone into that before but the fact that his cellmate in prison was doing time for counterfeiting makes it important that I find out All I can about spike before I check him off the list of suspects And have you tried to check on the cellmate of his that fellow? Slippery Tornetti. Yeah, we're not getting very far It seems that he's been on the move ever since he got out of jail But he's not in this part of the country at least we feel fairly certain he's not you know Hadley I think it might be a good idea to try to find the source of the counterfeit money if someone with the circus is Passing the bad money. I I don't think they'd be making it to there isn't one person with my outfit that would have enough time In their hands to make it. Oh, that's true. It's a big job takes time Many cases are fairly big plant bigger than could be carried around without someone noticing Yeah, but it's a tough job trying to find the source. I figure if I can catch the one who's passing the bills I'll find the source at the same time. Yeah, well, you're the detective. I guess you know best what to do Well, what do you say we step outdoors and get some of that sunshine can't let a nice morning like this go to waste That's all right with me However, I don't think it's a good idea to have folks seeing us talking together so much. Oh, that's all right, Hadley I I always talk with new people when they first join out with the show if you didn't talk with me the folks would surely think something was wrong Well, then that's all right sure it is. Hey, this is a nice morning, isn't it about perfect? I'd call it And I look for a full house both shows today. This is good circus weather. All right Well slads good morning. Good morning, and they and it's a fine morning if you do say so. Hello slads I've heard that you got there in that cage Of all things a parrot. Yes, sir. Finally got myself a mascot always wanted one of these broadcasts and birds Where'd you get them slats bought him bought him with my hard earned pay, but I figure he's worth it Not any more expensive than the phonograph and just as much pleasure What's his name? I'm gonna call him sleepy. Yes, sir sleepy is gonna be his name Why sleepy? Well, he gives me that impression notice the way he blinks his eyes all the time Looks to me like he's awful tired What's that you say sleepy did he say something well, I don't know what he gets he tried to he does talk doesn't mean Oh, well, I should hope so if he doesn't I've been robbed a man in the pet shop where I got him Said he was a good talker get him to say something. What's that? Oh Yes, yes, well, let me see now how to go about this. All right. Come on sleepy say something Well if he's saying something, it's not English You better do better than that now come on now Oh, you won't talk Well, he's showing possibilities if he's had good start with I'll have him reciting Shakespeare for the season over I Looks like you're gonna have trouble with sleepy I'll not take any back talk from a parent who convinced your life on that now. What's the idea sleepy say you're sorry He thinks you're funny slaps now see here sleepy. I don't need you for an audience I can get my laughs and I'll have an apparent giggling at me now say I'm sorry. Come on. Say it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry He looks like you've got one your bargain for us the man I bought him from said he was an unusually smart bird Said he'd repeat anything heard a couple of times That's just a lot of applesauce applesauce is all it is. Yes, sir applesauce He said it he said applesauce It looks like it don't it well, I guess it didn't make such a bad buy after all try something else let's okay now Come on sleepy to be or not to be to be or not to be Sound like applesauce to me Well, I guess he's got a right to his own opinion. Sure.  All right. Oh, where's your master? There's Jerry coming now. Oh I guess they've been uptown together. Oh You get away rags. Don't bother. They don't want to stop that market. Looks like he wants to get that sleepy Right back at you, right? That's pretty good parrot barks right back. Hey, what's going on?  I'll get away from that cake here eggs Come on in spike. This is a big laugh. What's going on? Well, my parrot sleepy. What's that your parents sleepy? That's his name. I said my parrot sleepy season right go on now right run along He's going but he'd rather stay around here. Yeah, I guess he can't figure out how a bird can bark Look at that Rags thinks is Jerry calling him. It sounds like Jerry's call Well, I better get out of here with this bird for a getting trouble.   Oh spike and I went up to the business district together Yeah, Jerry and I did a little shopping. Yeah, I see you got some new dead spike. Yeah, like them Yeah, that's a nice-looking jacket your cap, too. That's new isn't it? Yeah, Jerry picked it out for me He's got new shoes, too.  I've been needing these things mr.. Randall thought I better get them while they're getting good I sure like that cap. I like to get one like it myself What store did you get it at? Let's see What store was that Jerry? I got all the things in one place, but I can't remember the name of the store wasn't it? Abbots men shop. Yeah. Yeah, that's a place right near the corner of second in Maine Abbots, huh I'll have to go up there and get some things for myself. They got a nice selection. All right And you all through with your work, Jerry? Sure. I was all through before I went up down a spike Well, I was just thinking spike You must be doing all right to have money enough to get all those things in the middle of the week Well made a little extra money this week. Oh, I see if I hadn't I never would have been able to get all this stuff Mm-hmm. I got some things to do. Me too bumps will be wondering where I am. Come on Come on spy. Yeah, I'll walk over to the wagon with you Johnny. You might as well Where's the nearest phone mr. Randall phone hooked up in the ticket wagon now, let's get to it. All right right over here We're gonna call I'm going to call Abbots men's shop find out what kind of money spike used to buy those clothes This way here. We are Jim is not here. Let's see if I have my keys with me. Oh Yeah, here we are Step in Hadley the phone on the desk there. Hey, you wouldn't have a phone book by any chance. Would you? Yeah, there should be one. Oh, oh yeah, here Here we are here we are Abbots men's shop 415 2nd Street central 4976 Central 4976 That's right What do you bet we get something here? Well, I don't know handling, you know, hello. Hello Abbots men's shop This is secret investigator Hadley of the state's attorney's office There was a man in your place in the past hour bought a jacket a cap pair of shoes get a boy with him yeah Well, do you recall what kind of a bill he used to buy those things? Oh It was $10 bill. Yeah, I listen get that bill and read me the serial number. I'll hold the phone I knew I wasn't far wrong on spike. Well, we'll know for sure in just a minute now Of course, you know, it's possible that he got hello. Yeah All right, go ahead Yeah Good Now hang on to that bill. We'd be right over there and pick it up. It's counterfeit You're sure it's one of the counterfeits sure thing, you know, he has one of those funny numbers on it I was going to say don't you think it's possible that the spike got that bill and change somehow possible? Yes, but not probable. Mr. Randall. I think I've got our man just a little more work on this case now And we'll be closed. I've worked with that store now and get the bill and I'll be right back Well, I'll be in my office waiting for you. Good. I'll have to enlist your help to do just a little more investigating Then I'll pick up spike and we'll have this whole thing solved