46 Facts About Elliot See

1.

Elliot See graduated in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science degree in marine engineering and a United States Naval Reserve commission, and joined the Aircraft Gas Turbine Division of General Electric as an engineer.

2.

Elliot See married Marilyn Denahy in 1954, and they had three children.

3.

Elliot See rejoined General Electric in 1956 as a flight test engineer after his tour of duty, and became a group leader and experimental test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base, where he flew the latest jet aircraft with GE engines.

4.

Elliot See obtained a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from UCLA.

5.

Elliot See was killed along with Charles Bassett, his Gemini 9 crewmate, in a NASA jet crash at the St Louis McDonnell Aircraft plant, where they were to undergo two weeks of space rendezvous simulator training.

6.

Elliot See was the first of two children; his sister Sally Drummond See rounded out the family in 1930.

7.

Elliot See's father was an electrical engineer who worked for General Electric, and his mother worked in jobs ranging from advertising to real estate.

Related searches
Neil Armstrong
8.

Elliot See was active in the Boy Scouts of America for five years, and earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

9.

Elliot See attended Highland Park High School and was on the varsity team in several sports, including boxing.

10.

Elliot See was on the Reserve Officer Training Corps Rifle Team.

11.

Elliot See had to choose between going to war or going to college, as he would otherwise be drafted at age 18.

12.

Elliot See failed a physical, and, according to See, "going to college became the most important thing".

13.

Elliot See enrolled at the University of Texas, and after a few months pledged to Phi Kappa Psi.

14.

Elliot See applied for military officer training and received an appointment to the United States Merchant Marine Academy in 1945.

15.

Elliot See spent his plebe year at Pass Christian, Mississippi, where the USMMA had a satellite campus, and then transferred to the main campus at Kings Point, New York.

16.

Elliot See commanded the Third Company as a cadet officer.

17.

Elliot See was a member of the Propeller Club and head cheerleader.

18.

Elliot See was on the mile relay running team, played intramural softball, and was a varsity boxer.

19.

Elliot See moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, when the division was relocated.

20.

Elliot See attempted to land the aircraft on a short, unimproved field, but the tail wheel snagged a power line and forced the aircraft into the ground.

21.

Elliot See suffered deep cuts to his face which required plastic surgery.

22.

Elliot See married Marilyn on September 30,1954, before shipping out for a sixteen-month operational tour as a naval aviator, flying the Grumman F9F Panther with Fighter Squadron 144, part of Carrier Air Group 14.

23.

Elliot See primarily focused on line maintenance, but became proficient at carrier landings.

24.

Elliot See returned home in February 1956, in time for the birth of his first child, Sally.

25.

Elliot See rejoined General Electric in 1956 as a flight test engineer after his tour of duty.

Related searches
Neil Armstrong
26.

Elliot See became a group leader and experimental test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base, California, where the United States Air Force conducted flight tests.

27.

Elliot See conducted powerplant flight tests on the J-47, J-73, J-79, CJ805 and CJ805 aft-fan engines, which involved flying in F-86, XF4D, F-104, F11F-1F, RB-66, F4H, and T-38 aircraft.

28.

Elliot See worked towards his master's degree one night a week, starting in 1960, eventually obtaining a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from UCLA in 1962, and continued flying with the Naval Reserve.

29.

Elliot See was 35 at the time of his selection; the oldest in the group.

30.

Elliot See drove from Edwards with fellow civilian pilot Neil Armstrong to start his new career in Houston, Texas, where the new Manned Spacecraft Center was under construction.

31.

Elliot See was tasked with determining if the crewed lunar landing should occur in direct sunlight or using light reflected from the Earth.

32.

Elliot See landed helicopters with Jim Lovell on lava flows that simulated the terrain on the Moon.

33.

Elliot See was announced as the backup pilot for Gemini 5 on February 8,1965, with Armstrong serving as the backup command pilot.

34.

Elliot See had worked with General Electric in developing the fuel cells and was confident that they could find a solution to the problem.

35.

Under the crew rotation system devised by chief astronaut Deke Slayton, as the backup for Gemini 5, Armstrong and Elliot See were in line for prime crew of Gemini 8.

36.

Bassett was scheduled for the EVA and Elliot See would stay in the capsule.

37.

Elliot See was the pilot of their T-38 trainer jet, with Bassett in the rear seat.

38.

Elliot See was found in a parking lot still strapped to his ejection seat.

39.

The panel concluded that Elliot See was flying too low on his second approach, probably due to poor visibility.

40.

At the time, Elliot See was known as one of the better pilots in the astronaut corps.

41.

Elliot See was survived by his wife Marilyn and three children.

42.

Elliot See's name is inscribed on the Fallen Astronaut plaque placed on the Moon by Apollo 15 in 1971.

43.

Elliot See is listed on the Space Mirror Memorial at the John F Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, dedicated in 1991.

44.

Elliot See was honored by Highland Park High School in 2010 as one of the recipients of its Distinguished Alumni Award.

45.

Elliot See was a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Related searches
Neil Armstrong
46.

Elliot See was played by Steve Zahn in the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, and by Patrick Fugit in the 2018 film First Man.