Another fun fact, "Muroc" is the name "Corum" spelled backwards. The Corum's were the early settlers and ranchers in the high desert before the Air Force took over
How could you not know that? I don't get it- you're "The History Guy" and you goon out on _the most well-known place in aviation history?_ Whatever you're taking, you need to start breaking them in half...
@@craigwall9536 Ever heard of Murphy's Law and Stapp's Law? He's the History Guy, not necessarily the Aviation History Guy. Aviation history is a miniscule part of the vast panoply of history. Errors occur. Get used to it. He does admit to and correct his errors with humility, more than many people are capable of. He still deserves more respect than you just showed. By the way, are you claiming that Muroc dry lake is more well known than Kitty Hawk, North Carolina? Really?
Another interesting point about Stapp is the he was repeatedly ordered to stop using himself as a test dummy. He was even disciplined for disobeying and circumventing those orders. He refused to put anyone else in harms way when he could go in their place. With his advocacy for seat belts in cars and lobbying for the 1967 law requiring seat belts in new cars, he is probably actually responsible for saving millions of lives. Boys and girls, this is an actual hero.
Maybe in the long run, the irony is that auto deaths went UP after seat belts were required; probably b/c people thought that allowed them to be more reckless. The early belts were only lap belts which, while keeping you from going through the window, also often caused spinal cord injuries. As a boy we only had lap belts in the early 70s, we were NOT required to use them but schools then (appropriately) propagandized us on the value of wearing safety belts. I was only a family visit to an uncle's home one summer & we were going to church one Sunday. I reached down to grab the safety belt to put it on but I couldn't find it. He tells me & everyone in the car w/ us that he had tied them up in knots, b/c they annoyed him. Some people cut them out, so I guess he wasn't the worst. I also remember standing on the seat next to my mom looking out over the dash board as we drove down the road. Mom ordered me to sit down b/c that was "safer."
Suggested topic: how we learned about G effects on the body and the iron maiden currently at the Patuxent River naval aviation museum. How was the Johnsville centrifuge used in that study and in the mercury Gemini and Apollo missions
@@BuildingCenter Thank you 🙏. I felt like it might not land in text because most would initially read the "a" sound in "AAAAHHHHH" as /ˈɑːh/, like the a -sound in "top" instead of like /ˈæ:h/, like the a-sound in "tap." One of the many situations where English could some additional letters, LoL.
@@BuildingCenter No, I don't try to teach English to anyone other than my children. The variability in the language has long made me wish for a more complete and less duplicative alphabet. Oh well.
"going through a plywood wall like it was paper leaving his rubber face behind. He carried on, finally coming to a stop 750 feet down range." The imagery generated by those words made my day.
Years ago, I took my family to the International Space Hall of Fame in New Mexico. We arrived late in the day after almost everyone had left. Alamogordo is off the beaten path, and we were the only ones there. After a quick walk through of the museum, my 5 kids were crawling all over the outdoor exhibits, including Stapp's rocket sled, the Sonic Wind No. 1. As the last lady locked the building, she stopped for a moment to say, "I wish you had been here a little earlier. Colonel Stapp was here a good while this afternoon, and he loves to tell stories to kids."
I used to live in Alamogordo. There is/was a machine shop....Landers Machine Shop in Alamogordo.....they built the "track" or rail system for the Rocket Sled. I did some work for them when I lived there & was told about the grandfather & father that made it. The grandson was who I spoke with & had some work done for me, by him.
You missed a treat. In the fall of 1978 I was a junior at Alamogordo Senior High School. Our physics teacher (calculus teacher when I was a senior) was a retired USAF colonel, Dick Matthews. One day we had an acceleration word problem in our textbook that was part of the homework for the next day, and it was a calculation of acceleration during one of Dr. Stapp’s rides on a rocket sled. The next day after we discussed the homework, Dr. Stapp came in as a guest speaker. He was brilliant and told great stories. I’m glad you and your family got to enjoy the museum and exhibits. One of my sons climbed on the Sonic Wind II sled there, too. It’s a piece of history.
I was the Community Relations officer at Edwards AFB for 20-years before I retired from civil service almost four years ago. This episode centering on Co Stapp was outstanding! I’ve been to both test tracks on base. I ran the base’s tour program. One slight correction should be noted. The base used to be Muroc, not Murdock. The original settlers in the are were Ralph and Clifford Corum, who were brothers. They settled near a railroad water stop on the edge of Rodriguez Dry Lake. The sign simply said Rod. This was later changed to Rodgers. They opened a general store there. The big thing then was homesteading. They needed to have a post office in there store so that homesteaders could send and receive mail. They wanted to name their new town after themselves, but there was already a town in California with that name. True the spelling was a little different, Coram, but it was too close to Corum, so they had to pick another name. That’s why they spelled their name backwards to Muroc! //Dennis Shoffner
Dr Stapp is a Demi God to the fighter pilots of the US Military. He did so much to save lives and truly deserves to be memorialized. Thank you for showcasing this military and medical pioneer.
I met him in the early 90's at an AIAA dinner. Very quiet and modest; it was an evening with people who revered him but didn't pester him with a lot of questions. My main impression was that this was a person who had no ego on display because he truly _had nothing to prove to anyone._
He strikes me as the kind of man who would point out everyone else as being hero's, while never believing himself to being one of the greatest of them all.
I was a volunteer test subject at WPAFB in the early 80s for what they called "impact tests". Conducted indoors, they involved lower velocities (around 35 mph) and lower G levels (up to 12 g for the sled (your torso) and up to 30 g at your head). We all watched the JP Stapp videos and knew we were following in the footsteps of a REAL hero. We also got to watch a video made to test the upper limit of a harness. The strapped a large monkey into a sled and put him through an 80 g deceleration. The harness held, but the only thing left of the poor monkey was his torso - yuck. I am sure JPS knew about those tests and knew he was approaching that level, but he went through with it anyway. He may have saved more lives than anyone not named Jonas Salk.
The highest “G” force survived was 214G in a 220 mph collision with a guard rail in an Indy car in 2003. Duration and what you are wearing matters too. Stapp survived a 46.2G peak and an average of 25G for 1.1 seconds.
I always used to say "Murphy is alive and well and out to get me." as a preventive measure for things going wrong in projects I was working on. To know the origin of that law is interesting. I also do so work investigating car crashes and knew of Stapp's contributions. To find that Stapp and Murphy are closely connected is doubly funny.
Terrific episode! One of the drivers for his desire to be his own guinea pig was his exposure to Luftwaffe papers from WWII which used human subjects in concentration camps for experiments even in cases where survival was essentially impossible. While the data from those papers doubtless saved lives, he was appalled by how it was obtained. We have him to thank for our safety measures in automobiles (like seat belts and air bags) and can appreciate his devotion to high ethical standards. Truly a giant.
Wow! This is the best summary of Dr. Stapp yet. As an alum of the HHSTT, I can attest to the accomplishments of the good doctor. The paved roads on either side of the Holloman track are named East Stapp and West Stapp roads. Per Murphy's Law, Stapp was famous for his pithy sayings and poems. He wrote a small book of these entitled "For your moments of inertia" . Engineers will get the pun right away. Thanks.
Thank you. I remember Col Stapp. My Dad was also at the Areo Med Lab at Wright Pat. As a kid I recall all sorts of people who came over to our house for diner. Later, Dad worked at Holloman AFB in New Mexico where they had the later rocket sled tracks after Edwards. I was amazed this data was available to researchers.. Well done
Stapp's been one of my all time heroes since I read of the Sonic Wind tests as a kid. Thanks for getting his story out there. His bravery whilst saving lives instead of taking them really does deserve to be remembered! I know that all R.A.F. passenger seats face rearward after his experiments. It always amazes me that commercial aircraft, trains & buses have front facing seats. Think of the lives we could save by simply turning around the seats! We can take shock load G way better facing backwards.
Thanks for another great episode. I read Craig Ryan's biography of John Stapp, "Sonic Wind" (2015) a few years ago. Now, I think about him almost every day when I buckle my seatbelts. This is an amazing story -- and your episode today does a great job of telling us why Stapp is so important to us all.
But actually it’s better to save hundreds of souls ! if you help an Old lady cross the street 1 million times & she Ends up going to hell for eternity, did you really do anything for her? It’s all about having a nice eternity Not a hot smoking one
I've known about this fellow for years. I can't say that I've ever met anyone who was willing to subject himself to such physical punishment for the benefit of people he will never meet.
@@evensgrey Another noteworthy member of this fraternity is Colonel Joseph W. Kittinger II. Although a pilot, rather than research physician, he performed the very first extreme altitude experiments by riding balloons to altitudes eventually exceeding 100,000 ft and descending by free-fall at over 600 MPH before opening his parachute. This called for titanium cajones.
I recall a TV series, starring George Nader, called, " The Man & the Challenge". The Opening Credits - showed a Rocket Sled, in action. Obviously, It made quite an impression !
You're not the only one. A week after seeing that opening, I had already built a working model sled track using rubber bands to stand in for the RATO bottles... I was thinking about how to build the water trough decell termination when we had to move and it got left behind...
A shot of the rocket sled and Stapp are also in the introduction of each episode of the show Star Trek: Enterprise. A lot of historical footage is included: Amelia Earhart, Chuck Yeager, Neil Armstrong, the Wright Brothers, etc.
As I recall Volvo attended these first conferences and quickly adopted the 3 point safety belt. Wish every other manufacturer had adopted them back in the 1950's.
@@allangibson8494 I don't see that as a problem. Being a good driver is avoiding hazards. I've swerved around accidents that occurred right in front of me. It's very simple really. The object of the game is just don't hit anything. Part of that is not letting anything else hit you either.
Just wanted to thank you for the many hours of listening. I work long nights driving a tractor trailer. Listening to your videos make my time go by much quicker. It gives me an appreciation of one person do with their life. Some people call it the ripple affect.
As to be expected from THG, excellent bio! Colonel Stapp is one of my personal heroes. As a child, I was fascinated by the stories, photos, and films of his experiments. This led to an interest in ejection seats and escape systems. I became an engineer (one of my professors had worked for Coleman Engineering in the 50s and worked on building sled tracks and test vehicles and had worked with Col Stapp, further inspiring me), and in the late 80s I realized my dream to work in this field. I was a test engineer with McDonnell-Douglas Escape Systems division in Long Beach Ca from 1988 to 1993, working at HHSTT as well as Hurricane Mesa and China Lake on various programs. A highlight was getting to sit on Sonic Wind, on display at the Alamorgordo Space Museum. A company reorganization required the escape group move to St Luis, and I transferred to the C-17 flight test program. Still consider that time the highlight, the most exciting anf fun part, of my career.
I could envision him after a test, quite dazed but unharmed, when medics arrived to unstrap him and check him over, ask him how he feels, he responds "I need a beer." Would be the most well-deserved beer in history.
I have attended several Stapp Car Crash Conferences and plan to be in Denver Colorado for this year's conference. I had the pleasure of meeting the man several years ago and marveled at his knowledge and accomplishments. Your video was superb and very respectful of Doctor Stapp. thank you
In 1965 an English assignment was an account of Stapp's extreme deceleration rocket sled ride. It asserted that when Stapp regained his wits and realized he was blind he assumed his optic nerves had been overstressed and had snapped; he was greatly relieved when his vision started returning.
I remember those tests and magazine photos (probably in LIFE magazine). His heroic, scientific experiments made major contributions most of the public will never know or appreciate. Thanks for covering Col. Stapp. The 1950's were a very exciting time for aviation and the future space program.
As a child, I had an encyclopedia and science set that had Dr. stapp's famous photos in it. I would frequently look at the photos and wonder what was happening to him. I was too young to understand G forces. Amazing.
Colonel Stapp. We salute you,Sir. Your sacrifice and commitment to a higher calling, has helped save countless lives. Our great nation is in debt to men and women of such stature. We are a better country from your like. Thank you History guy...as always for bringing to light the accomplishments of our unsung hero’s.
Interesting to ponder... Colonel Stapp and his engineers used pencil, paper, and slide rules to calculate all their data. A few moments of excitement followed by hours and hours of data crunching by geniuses with pencils.
One of the funnest days of my fathers career was when the computers went down while his team was working up a business proposal. He thoroughly enjoyed showing the “young guys” how to work the numbers up using pencil and paper and a slide rule. Dad was through and through a numbers guy.😎
I didn't know about his role in advocating for auto seat belts, but now I can say Colonel Stapp helped save my life. I was in an accident that I would have died in, if not for the seat belt in my truck! Thank you, Colonel John Stapp. You're a life saver. 🙏
His work is probably responsible for those brace things that come down over your shoulders to hold you in place on many roller coasters. The lap bar on old wooden coasters is far less effective.
Before retiring from the AF I used to be the NCOIC of Aerospace Medicine at Edwards AFB. When we had a new Flight Medicine building built it was named after Dr. Stapp. He was one of our hero's at Edwards and would occasionally stop in to visit when on the base doing research. Last time I saw him he was moving slow and showing his age nd effects of all his years testing on himself but his mind and memory was still sharp as ever. If you visit Edwards AFB there is a nice display in the base museum for him. Also stop by the flight surgeons lobby for some more displays and informative plaques. If you head out towards the "south gate" you can even find some sections of the rocket sled track left. What I liked best about this video were the Stapp quotes that show his sense of humor.
Just enjoyed your episode on the Rocket Sled which was tested on Muroc Dry Lake. That real estate was purchased from the Corum brothers, Ralph and Clifford, who had named Muroc Dry Lake as a reversal of their last name.
I’ve heard of Dr Stapp before. I’ve read about his many accomplishments. I never knew how humble he was. Not the facts about automobile safety he was involved in. Never heard of the origin of Murphy’s law or Stapp’s law. Again, you are simply amazing at your work. Thank you for the knowledge and research you share with us.
I have been up and down the Holloman sled track many times and seen some of what has been done there and it is simply a marvel of test equipment and history.
I see you are the new trans-demi-non-binary (2016) model. Well in accordance with the US militaries diversity and inclusion protocols we will have to strap you into a rocket sled to see how much G-force your type can take. It's for equality.
He was talking about human capacity to withstand deceleration- physics and biology. I assure you that neither he nor I were trying to make a statement about gender identity.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Of course THG. Nobody is accusing anybody of anything. Maybe this is something we can all joke freely about in the later half of the 21st century.
The history guy reminds me of a great guy I used to work with. One of the very few people I've met that I could actually have intelligent conversations with.
Stapp: "There are only two models, male and female, of the human body currently available, with no immediate prospects of a new design." 21st Century: "Hold my beer."
@@so-dan-bought-some-land First, HG didn’t say it. He only quoted Stapp. And second, Both are right. There are still only two versions, okay maybe 4 if you count young and old, male and female.
Thanks for the pleasant memories. Before Stapp, my Dad worked at Wright Patterson helping to develop the injection seat. Not a big wheel but a wheel. I hadn't thought of those stories my Dad told me for a while now. Thanks again.
Thanks for the video on Stapp. I am old enough to remember when he was rocketing across the desert and stopping fast enough that he got black eyes from it. I am pleased that he is no longer obscure but now known and appreciated.
Thank you History Guy . . For making my day alot better off. To have known what has happened in the past will make our future all better for it. 👍from New Zealand.
I use data Stapp developed on human G-tolerances in the military sci-fi that I write. I occasionally get called out that a pilot couldn't survive a hit inducing 20Gs to the vessel, and merely post links to Colonel Stapp's record as my answer. :)
I am delighted that you mentioned Wings and Air Power magazine. While it was being published it was one of the great history sources around. Its focus was mainly on the use of airplanes during World War Two, but its breadth of coverage, and accuracy of the subject, was a delight to behold. Miss that publication badly.
Thank You!!! In the early '60s, I read about this with great fascination in grade school, not knowing that is was old news. Perhaps it was somewhat classified for a while. A few decades later, I ran across an article on the subject/Dr. Stapp and recall he stated the most lasting negative issue was having to endure many, many cheap chicken meals at luncheon talks over the years.
On behalf of the few of us who got the reference.. very well done. I needed a bit of humor today after shoveling snow this morning and getting a new battery for the vehicle........ and as the folks at JPL proved yesterday, "wheels? where we're going we don't need wheels."
Great video acknowledgment. As the son of an Air Force pilot who was one of Col Stapp’s contemporaries and a caterpillar club member, his name was a familiar one from my childhood.
Always happy to hear The History Guy talk about New Mexico! I attended my last 3 years of college just a few miles from Holloman AFB, at Eastern New Mexico University.
thank you for telling us the story of this American hero. I remember watching the footage of these sled runs on our 19 inch black and white television back in the early 60s, never realizing the importance of these tests until now.
Very interesting segment. Brought to mind a friend I worked with at the GM proving grounds around 1970. He worked as a high speed motion picture photographer at the proving grounds. He spent some time at the Holman AFB doing work on that sled for the final development of the auto air bags that were released for production in 1974. He recounted to me that they recruited human volunteers to test the airbags that were eventually standard equipment in every vehicle.
When I saw the title of this video, I knew it was time to get a dish of ice cream, relax, and enjoy Lance's spin on this great man's life and work. What a guy!
People like John Stapp are the real superheroes of our time. It's sad that media companies spend billions making movies about fictional heroes when we have so many real ones to admire. Kudos to The History Guy for bringing this hero back to us!
In the 1990s you could email Colonel Staap. I told him that I had rescued ‘Oscar’ while in the Coast Guard and got a thanks. There is a photo of him in an Alamogordo parade sitting in a rocket sled mockup during his later years. I like the description of how Oscar Eightball “sallied forth”. Correct military test nomenclature.
It is so easy to take for granted what we have/know today. If it weren't for people like DR Stapp everyone of us would be 'test dummies'' all too often.
The series of photos shot in sequence at 10:20 has been known to me since I was a young boy in the 1950s. Thanks for putting a name to the man with the contorted face after all these decades.
About a month ago I was a crash test dummy. I fell from my bike about 5 feet vertically down onto hard packed ground , splat, with no roll. Landed at about 19 km/hr , according to Newton, on my side, elbow pressed against ribs. The deceleration occured in about ,01 to .02 seconds. I figure between 20 and 40 g's. Totally mushed and broke my elbow. One week in hospital. Survived. Great show History Guy.
As several viewers have noticed, the name of the base in California is Muroc, not Murdoc. I apologize for the error.
Another fun fact, "Muroc" is the name "Corum" spelled backwards. The Corum's were the early settlers and ranchers in the high desert before the Air Force took over
How could you not know that? I don't get it- you're "The History Guy" and you goon out on _the most well-known place in aviation history?_ Whatever you're taking, you need to start breaking them in half...
@@craigwall9536 I get it you have never misspoke, good for you!
@@craigwall9536 Ever heard of Murphy's Law and Stapp's Law?
He's the History Guy, not necessarily the Aviation History Guy. Aviation history is a miniscule part of the vast panoply of history. Errors occur. Get used to it. He does admit to and correct his errors with humility, more than many people are capable of. He still deserves more respect than you just showed.
By the way, are you claiming that Muroc dry lake is more well known than Kitty Hawk, North Carolina?
Really?
It's not such a big deal. Thank you for posting a prompt correction.
Another interesting point about Stapp is the he was repeatedly ordered to stop using himself as a test dummy. He was even disciplined for disobeying and circumventing those orders. He refused to put anyone else in harms way when he could go in their place. With his advocacy for seat belts in cars and lobbying for the 1967 law requiring seat belts in new cars, he is probably actually responsible for saving millions of lives.
Boys and girls, this is an actual hero.
For getting policy put in place telling us what to do? Sheeple award
@@eskee1 Has to do it because of the number of morons running around.
Maybe in the long run, the irony is that auto deaths went UP after seat belts were required; probably b/c people thought that allowed them to be more reckless. The early belts were only lap belts which, while keeping you from going through the window, also often caused spinal cord injuries.
As a boy we only had lap belts in the early 70s, we were NOT required to use them but schools then (appropriately) propagandized us on the value of wearing safety belts. I was only a family visit to an uncle's home one summer & we were going to church one Sunday. I reached down to grab the safety belt to put it on but I couldn't find it. He tells me & everyone in the car w/ us that he had tied them up in knots, b/c they annoyed him. Some people cut them out, so I guess he wasn't the worst. I also remember standing on the seat next to my mom looking out over the dash board as we drove down the road. Mom ordered me to sit down b/c that was "safer."
@@elcastorgrande nah
@no yes I never said my opinion though I asked a question?
Many aircrew owed their life to this mans research and sacrifice. Well done Dr. Stapp, and to you History Guy!
Suggested topic: how we learned about G effects on the body and the iron maiden currently at the Patuxent River naval aviation museum. How was the Johnsville centrifuge used in that study and in the mercury Gemini and Apollo missions
Many 1000's civilians saved by a seatbelt.......
@@SW-zu7ve Add quite a few zeros .... Any car crash at over 20mph is likely to be lethal if unrestrained.
@@allangibson2408 Thats where that word "Many" comes into play....
@@SW-zu7ve Rather than thousands - millions come to mind. Every year, and that is just in the US.
Stapp: “My name sounds like somebody yelling ‘AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!’ and ‘STOP!!’ at the same time.”
Air Force: “We have the PERFECT job for you!”
Brilliant!
@helix This is an amazingly well-crafted joke. It’s hard to convey sincerity online. This is grand.
@@BuildingCenter Thank you 🙏. I felt like it might not land in text because most would initially read the "a" sound in "AAAAHHHHH" as /ˈɑːh/, like the a -sound in "top" instead of like /ˈæ:h/, like the a-sound in "tap." One of the many situations where English could some additional letters, LoL.
@@skenzyme81 Teach TEFL/TESOL?
I came back to reread this now because it’s still deeply satisfying.
@@BuildingCenter No, I don't try to teach English to anyone other than my children. The variability in the language has long made me wish for a more complete and less duplicative alphabet. Oh well.
"going through a plywood wall like it was paper leaving his rubber face behind. He carried on, finally coming to a stop 750 feet down range."
The imagery generated by those words made my day.
The imagery that hit my mind gave me a serious case of the giggles hahahaha
Mr. Stapp upon seeing that: "Well okay, my turn!"
@@quillmaurer6563 Oh yeah! That would be a moment to remember as well. I bet he couldnt wait
It wasn't "carried on". Oscar "sallied forth". It was those two words that stuck in my mind?
But yes, a splendid description.
Years ago, I took my family to the International Space Hall of Fame in New Mexico. We arrived late in the day after almost everyone had left. Alamogordo is off the beaten path, and we were the only ones there. After a quick walk through of the museum, my 5 kids were crawling all over the outdoor exhibits, including Stapp's rocket sled, the Sonic Wind No. 1. As the last lady locked the building, she stopped for a moment to say, "I wish you had been here a little earlier. Colonel Stapp was here a good while this afternoon, and he loves to tell stories to kids."
The International Space Hall of Fame in Alamogordo is truly a hidden gem.
I used to live in Alamogordo. There is/was a machine shop....Landers Machine Shop in Alamogordo.....they built the "track" or rail system for the Rocket Sled. I did some work for them when I lived there & was told about the grandfather & father that made it. The grandson was who I spoke with & had some work done for me, by him.
I feel like Stapp is going to be a legendary figure in history someday.
Lol epic fail
You missed a treat. In the fall of 1978 I was a junior at Alamogordo Senior High School. Our physics teacher (calculus teacher when I was a senior) was a retired USAF colonel, Dick Matthews. One day we had an acceleration word problem in our textbook that was part of the homework for the next day, and it was a calculation of acceleration during one of Dr. Stapp’s rides on a rocket sled. The next day after we discussed the homework, Dr. Stapp came in as a guest speaker. He was brilliant and told great stories.
I’m glad you and your family got to enjoy the museum and exhibits. One of my sons climbed on the Sonic Wind II sled there, too. It’s a piece of history.
After enduring all of that "testing" trauma he lived to 89?! Some folk are just built of sturdier stuff than your average human.
I was the Community Relations officer at Edwards AFB for 20-years before I retired from civil service almost four years ago. This episode centering on Co Stapp was outstanding! I’ve been to both test tracks on base. I ran the base’s tour program.
One slight correction should be noted. The base used to be Muroc, not Murdock. The original settlers in the are were Ralph and Clifford Corum, who were brothers. They settled near a railroad water stop on the edge of Rodriguez Dry Lake. The sign simply said Rod. This was later changed to Rodgers.
They opened a general store there. The big thing then was homesteading. They needed to have a post office in there store so that homesteaders could send and receive mail. They wanted to name their new town after themselves, but there was already a town in California with that name. True the spelling was a little different, Coram, but it was too close to Corum, so they had to pick another name. That’s why they spelled their name backwards to Muroc!
//Dennis Shoffner
Thanks! Neat little bit of history added there.
Dr Stapp is a Demi God to the fighter pilots of the US Military. He did so much to save lives and truly deserves to be memorialized. Thank you for showcasing this military and medical pioneer.
I wonder how many years were cut off his lifespan by those extreme forces?
@@billd.iniowa2263 He lived to 96... so not that many?
I met the Colonel once when he was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame as the fastest accelerating human of all time
That was pretty cool of them to do.
It would be interesting to see the data of Colonel Stapp's sled ride at the quarter mile mark!
I met him in the early 90's at an AIAA dinner. Very quiet and modest; it was an evening with people who revered him but didn't pester him with a lot of questions. My main impression was that this was a person who had no ego on display because he truly _had nothing to prove to anyone._
He strikes me as the kind of man who would point out everyone else as being hero's, while never believing himself to being one of the greatest of them all.
Thank you for this note. It is the little things in history. 1st person accounts are golden.
I was a volunteer test subject at WPAFB in the early 80s for what they called "impact tests". Conducted indoors, they involved lower velocities (around 35 mph) and lower G levels (up to 12 g for the sled (your torso) and up to 30 g at your head). We all watched the JP Stapp videos and knew we were following in the footsteps of a REAL hero. We also got to watch a video made to test the upper limit of a harness. The strapped a large monkey into a sled and put him through an 80 g deceleration. The harness held, but the only thing left of the poor monkey was his torso - yuck. I am sure JPS knew about those tests and knew he was approaching that level, but he went through with it anyway. He may have saved more lives than anyone not named Jonas Salk.
The highest “G” force survived was 214G in a 220 mph collision with a guard rail in an Indy car in 2003. Duration and what you are wearing matters too.
Stapp survived a 46.2G peak and an average of 25G for 1.1 seconds.
I always used to say "Murphy is alive and well and out to get me." as a preventive measure for things going wrong in projects I was working on. To know the origin of that law is interesting.
I also do so work investigating car crashes and knew of Stapp's contributions. To find that Stapp and Murphy are closely connected is doubly funny.
Terrific episode! One of the drivers for his desire to be his own guinea pig was his exposure to Luftwaffe papers from WWII which used human subjects in concentration camps for experiments even in cases where survival was essentially impossible. While the data from those papers doubtless saved lives, he was appalled by how it was obtained. We have him to thank for our safety measures in automobiles (like seat belts and air bags) and can appreciate his devotion to high ethical standards. Truly a giant.
Wow! This is the best summary of Dr. Stapp yet. As an alum of the HHSTT, I can attest to the accomplishments of the good doctor. The paved roads on either side of the Holloman track are named East Stapp and West Stapp roads. Per Murphy's Law, Stapp was famous for his pithy sayings and poems. He wrote a small book of these entitled "For your moments of inertia" . Engineers will get the pun right away. Thanks.
Hi! When were you at HHSTT? Worked for McDonnell-Douglas Escape Systems between 1988 and 1993. Tested equipment on the track three times.
@@orangelion03 2002 thru 2015. Ah, ACES II seats, sturdy and reliable.
Hey Jim, it’s been a long time.
Were there any Stapp signs on those roads?
@@greggravitas5849 Oddly, no.
Brings a whole new meaning to the old insult “Chair Force”! 😆
Thank you. I remember Col Stapp. My Dad was also at the Areo Med Lab at Wright Pat. As a kid I recall all sorts of people who came over to our house for diner. Later, Dad worked at Holloman AFB in New Mexico where they had the later rocket sled tracks after Edwards. I was amazed this data was available to researchers.. Well done
I could see the White Sands National Park. It’s pretty awesome that my grandpa did work with this man
@@justinblechinger6723 Sand Surfing was way COOL!
Having been in naval aviation for over 20 years I was very happy to have access flight surgeons. They are a group apart from the rest.
Stapp is a true unsung American hero. Thanks for shining a light on this extraordinary mans contributions History Guy.
Peace.
Colonel Stapp really "excelled" in his work. Another fine story HG!
That should be "accelerated"
@@wrecktech Is that accelerated studies?? 😄
He was a fast learner.
Stapp's been one of my all time heroes since I read of the Sonic Wind tests as a kid.
Thanks for getting his story out there. His bravery whilst saving lives instead of taking them really does deserve to be remembered!
I know that all R.A.F. passenger seats face rearward after his experiments. It always amazes me that commercial aircraft, trains & buses have front facing seats. Think of the lives we could save by simply turning around the seats!
We can take shock load G way better facing backwards.
Dr. Stapp was the smartest man to do the stupidest of things in order to obtain more intelligence.
that's a hero that deserves to be remembered.
One of the true heroes that are all too often forgotten by history! Thank you for sharing his story.
2:35 That crooked badge on his hat would haunt me to my deathbed.
Thanks for another great episode. I read Craig Ryan's biography of John Stapp, "Sonic Wind" (2015) a few years ago. Now, I think about him almost every day when I buckle my seatbelts. This is an amazing story -- and your episode today does a great job of telling us why Stapp is so important to us all.
Thanks for the tip. I'll be looking for that book!
He was on Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life is where I 1st found out about him. Got to read his biography. Thank you for the tip.
Saving hundreds of thousands of lives -- AND CONTINUING to do so -- isn't a bad thing to be remembered for . . .
But actually it’s better to save hundreds of souls ! if you help an Old lady cross the street 1 million times & she Ends up going to hell for eternity, did you really do anything for her?
It’s all about having a nice eternity Not a hot smoking one
I've known about this fellow for years. I can't say that I've ever met anyone who was willing to subject himself to such physical punishment for the benefit of people he will never meet.
Blessed is he who plants trees under whose shade he will never sit.
Always great to watch your videos.
I've said it a thousand times but I'll say it again.
I really enjoy your work!
Thank you 👍
He was one of the great heroes of the Air Force research community.
And right up there with Werner Forssmann and Barry Marshall in terms of courageous medical research.
@@evensgrey Another noteworthy member of this fraternity is Colonel Joseph W. Kittinger II. Although a pilot, rather than research physician, he performed the very first extreme altitude experiments by riding balloons to altitudes eventually exceeding 100,000 ft and descending by free-fall at over 600 MPH before opening his parachute. This called for titanium cajones.
I first read about Colonel Stapp when I was kid in the 1960's. He's been one of my heroes ever since. What an amazing, selfless man.
Phenomenal episode, sir! The fact that a man was willing to die in the pursuit of knowledge and saving lives truly is remarkable.
I never cease to be amazed about the stories you bring us History Guy
Col. Dr. Stapp, thank you wherever you are.
I recall a TV series, starring George Nader, called, " The Man & the Challenge". The Opening Credits - showed a Rocket Sled, in action. Obviously, It made quite an impression !
I'm just glad it didn't make an impact.
You're not the only one. A week after seeing that opening, I had already built a working model sled track using rubber bands to stand in for the RATO bottles... I was thinking about how to build the water trough decell termination when we had to move and it got left behind...
I had forgotten that for 50 years, until just now.
A shot of the rocket sled and Stapp are also in the introduction of each episode of the show Star Trek: Enterprise. A lot of historical footage is included: Amelia Earhart, Chuck Yeager, Neil Armstrong, the Wright Brothers, etc.
I believe he was a contestant on the You Bet Your Life show in the 50's w Groucho Marx.
As I recall Volvo attended these first conferences and quickly adopted the 3 point safety belt. Wish every other manufacturer had adopted them back in the 1950's.
Auto fatalities keep the roads safer by taking the dangerous ones out of the game early.
@@1pcfredThe problem is the multitude of others they take with them.
@@allangibson8494 I don't see that as a problem. Being a good driver is avoiding hazards. I've swerved around accidents that occurred right in front of me. It's very simple really. The object of the game is just don't hit anything. Part of that is not letting anything else hit you either.
@@1pcfred Tell that to the kids killed lying in their beds…
Just wanted to thank you for the many hours of listening. I work long nights driving a tractor trailer. Listening to your videos make my time go by much quicker. It gives me an appreciation of one person do with their life. Some people call it the ripple affect.
As to be expected from THG, excellent bio!
Colonel Stapp is one of my personal heroes. As a child, I was fascinated by the stories, photos, and films of his experiments. This led to an interest in ejection seats and escape systems. I became an engineer (one of my professors had worked for Coleman Engineering in the 50s and worked on building sled tracks and test vehicles and had worked with Col Stapp, further inspiring me), and in the late 80s I realized my dream to work in this field. I was a test engineer with McDonnell-Douglas Escape Systems division in Long Beach Ca from 1988 to 1993, working at HHSTT as well as Hurricane Mesa and China Lake on various programs. A highlight was getting to sit on Sonic Wind, on display at the Alamorgordo Space Museum. A company reorganization required the escape group move to St Luis, and I transferred to the C-17 flight test program. Still consider that time the highlight, the most exciting anf fun part, of my career.
Rumor is that Stapp coined the phrase "hold my beer".
“Hold your beer? Why? What’re you going to OH MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!?!”
Priceless!😂😂😂
just until the 46g cupholder was rigged up.
I could envision him after a test, quite dazed but unharmed, when medics arrived to unstrap him and check him over, ask him how he feels, he responds "I need a beer." Would be the most well-deserved beer in history.
No, that was me!!!
I have attended several Stapp Car Crash Conferences and plan to be in Denver Colorado for this year's conference. I had the pleasure of meeting the man several years ago and marveled at his knowledge and accomplishments. Your video was superb and very respectful of Doctor Stapp. thank you
In 1965 an English assignment was an account of Stapp's extreme deceleration rocket sled ride. It asserted that when Stapp regained his wits and realized he was blind he assumed his optic nerves had been overstressed and had snapped; he was greatly relieved when his vision started returning.
flagmichael I was guessing detached retinas. I can't imagine what that was like. Or more honestly, don't want to.
I remember those tests and magazine photos (probably in LIFE magazine). His heroic, scientific experiments made major contributions most of the public will never know or appreciate. Thanks for covering Col. Stapp. The 1950's were a very exciting time for aviation and the future space program.
As a child, I had an encyclopedia and science set that had Dr. stapp's famous photos in it. I would frequently look at the photos and wonder what was happening to him. I was too young to understand G forces. Amazing.
Me to, encyclopedias were very cool, A-Z and that’s not AmaZon
Colonel Stapp. We salute you,Sir. Your sacrifice and commitment to a higher calling, has helped save countless lives. Our great nation is in debt to men and women of such stature. We are a better country from your like. Thank you History guy...as always for bringing to light the accomplishments of our unsung hero’s.
Bless this man we owe him so much.
Interesting to ponder... Colonel Stapp and his engineers used pencil, paper, and slide rules to calculate all their data. A few moments of excitement followed by hours and hours of data crunching by geniuses with pencils.
One of the funnest days of my fathers career was when the computers went down while his team was working up a business proposal. He thoroughly enjoyed showing the “young guys” how to work the numbers up using pencil and paper and a slide rule. Dad was through and through a numbers guy.😎
That is indeed a military axiom: "long periods of boredom interrupted by short moments of pure terror."
I didn't know about his role in advocating for auto seat belts, but now I can say Colonel Stapp helped save my life. I was in an accident that I would have died in, if not for the seat belt in my truck!
Thank you, Colonel John Stapp. You're a life saver. 🙏
THG rocks! Big props to all those who risked their lives pushing the envelope in an effort to make lives safer for others.
Awesome episode. He is certainly a man worth remembering. Thank you for bringing this to us.
Stapp unknowingly inspired many theme park thrill rides.🎢
Actually made them safer than they were.
His work is probably responsible for those brace things that come down over your shoulders to hold you in place on many roller coasters. The lap bar on old wooden coasters is far less effective.
@@RCAvhstape I hear ya!
Before retiring from the AF I used to be the NCOIC of Aerospace Medicine at Edwards AFB. When we had a new Flight Medicine building built it was named after Dr. Stapp. He was one of our hero's at Edwards and would occasionally stop in to visit when on the base doing research. Last time I saw him he was moving slow and showing his age nd effects of all his years testing on himself but his mind and memory was still sharp as ever. If you visit Edwards AFB there is a nice display in the base museum for him. Also stop by the flight surgeons lobby for some more displays and informative plaques. If you head out towards the "south gate" you can even find some sections of the rocket sled track left. What I liked best about this video were the Stapp quotes that show his sense of humor.
Just enjoyed your episode on the Rocket Sled which was tested on Muroc Dry Lake. That real estate was purchased from the Corum brothers, Ralph and Clifford, who had named Muroc Dry Lake as a reversal of their last name.
Thank you so much. His story needed to be told in this format. His book, Sonic Wind, is available.
Hell of an ad read Mr.History Guy. Truly it was one of the best ad reads for NordVPN I've ever seen.
I’ve heard of Dr Stapp before. I’ve read about his many accomplishments. I never knew how humble he was. Not the facts about automobile safety he was involved in. Never heard of the origin of Murphy’s law or Stapp’s law. Again, you are simply amazing at your work. Thank you for the knowledge and research you share with us.
China Lake employee?
I have been up and down the Holloman sled track many times and seen some of what has been done there and it is simply a marvel of test equipment and history.
Thank you, History Guy. We need to know about these people.
Stapp: “There are only 2 models of the human body available”
2016: REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
You can bolt on all the non OEM parts you want while pumping in all sorts of chemicals.....but Col. Stapp wasn't wrong. ;)
I see you are the new trans-demi-non-binary (2016) model. Well in accordance with the US militaries diversity and inclusion protocols we will have to strap you into a rocket sled to see how much G-force your type can take. It's for equality.
Cancel this man! Throw his research in the trash! Haha
He was talking about human capacity to withstand deceleration- physics and biology. I assure you that neither he nor I were trying to make a statement about gender identity.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Of course THG. Nobody is accusing anybody of anything. Maybe this is something we can all joke freely about in the later half of the 21st century.
The History Guy never fails to amaze !
The history guy reminds me of a great guy I used to work with. One of the very few people I've met that I could actually have intelligent conversations with.
Colonel Stapp has saved truly a lot of people! A true hero...👍👍👍
Stapp: "There are only two models, male and female, of the human body currently available, with no immediate prospects of a new design."
21st Century: "Hold my beer."
LOL, ya as soon as I heard that I thought there going to cancel "the History Guy".
@@so-dan-bought-some-land First, HG didn’t say it. He only quoted Stapp. And second, Both are right. There are still only two versions, okay maybe 4 if you count young and old, male and female.
Technically 3 because of intersex peoples but I'd say they're less of a design and more of an... anomaly. Meaning absolutely no offense by that.
Like almost everything you do. This was better than most, plus the orgin of Murphy's Law. A bonus!
Thanks for the pleasant memories. Before Stapp, my Dad worked at Wright Patterson helping to develop the injection seat. Not a big wheel but a wheel. I hadn't thought of those stories my Dad told me for a while now. Thanks again.
Thanks for the video on Stapp. I am old enough to remember when he was rocketing across the desert and stopping fast enough that he got black eyes from it. I am pleased that he is no longer obscure but now known and appreciated.
Utterly amazing story. Thank you for your research, THG, Stapp. World is a better place for knowing.
Murphy’s Law expanded: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong at such a time as to cause the most amount of problems in the least possible time.”
Perhaps explained in mathematical terms as "Desirability is inversely proportional to probability"?
@@edwardsadler7515 Or in physics: "The perversity of the universe tends towards a maximum"? Otherwise known as the Second Law of Thermogoddamics.
@@rcknbob1 Indeed! Flanders & Swan agreed with you - th-cam.com/video/VnbiVw_1FNs/w-d-xo.html
And the little known corollary: “Murphy was a freaking optimist.”
Then there are Murphy’s Laws & Corollaries of Combat......
A true American Hero. Thank you for this video relating the story of an incredible doctor and man.
Wow, some people just have it in them.
My palms were sweaty just watching the ejection footage. Now, there's a hero for you, Mr.Stapp👍.
Thank you History Guy . . For making my day alot better off. To have known what has happened in the past will make our future all better for it. 👍from New Zealand.
I really enjoy your videos.
Thanks for being one of the few TH-camrs able to admit to making an error.
You’re the BEST !!
I use data Stapp developed on human G-tolerances in the military sci-fi that I write. I occasionally get called out that a pilot couldn't survive a hit inducing 20Gs to the vessel, and merely post links to Colonel Stapp's record as my answer. :)
"Uhhh it's a max of 9 Gs"
It's a constant of 9 Gs with a for now known 45ish Gs.
Wow! Wow!! What a true legend.. RIP (and Thank You for your contributions!!)
The definition of selflessness and courage
I am delighted that you mentioned Wings and Air Power magazine. While it was being published it was one of the great history sources around. Its focus was mainly on the use of airplanes during World War Two, but its breadth of coverage, and accuracy of the subject, was a delight to behold. Miss that publication badly.
Amazing! We owe so much to this man!
Thank You!!! In the early '60s, I read about this with great fascination in grade school, not knowing that is was old news. Perhaps it was somewhat classified for a while. A few decades later, I ran across an article on the subject/Dr. Stapp and recall he stated the most lasting negative issue was having to endure many, many cheap chicken meals at luncheon talks over the years.
When this things reaches 88.6 mph, your going to see some serious shit.
Ha ha
On behalf of the few of us who got the reference.. very well done. I needed a bit of humor today after shoveling snow this morning and getting a new battery for the vehicle........ and as the folks at JPL proved yesterday, "wheels? where we're going we don't need wheels."
Or, not, because of the blindness. Should only be temporary, probably
Only if they installed the flux capacitor...
Thank you, I was hoping that I wasn't the only one that thought of that
Great video acknowledgment. As the son of an Air Force pilot who was one of Col Stapp’s contemporaries and a caterpillar club member, his name was a familiar one from my childhood.
Always happy to hear The History Guy talk about New Mexico! I attended my last 3 years of college just a few miles from Holloman AFB, at Eastern New Mexico University.
thank you for telling us the story of this American hero. I remember watching the footage of these sled runs on our 19 inch black and white television back in the early 60s, never realizing the importance of these tests until now.
Outstanding! Amazing to think of how all of our lives have been improved by the life's work of one man, most of us could not name.
The full Murphy's law states " Anything that can go wrong , will, at the worst time and in the worst way possible."
william glaser Murphy was an optimist.
Murphy was a Grunt.
@Albert Clarke Do tell ? And what is the full version ?
@@williamglaser6577 Don't you just love people like Clarke? "Well actually..." they begin and then disappear.
@@md_vandenberg Yes, they are saying I have secret knowledge and am superior to you. Very frustrating wind bags.
Very interesting segment. Brought to mind a friend I worked with at the GM proving grounds around 1970. He worked as a high speed motion picture photographer at the proving grounds. He spent some time at the Holman AFB doing work on that sled for the final development of the auto air bags that were released for production in 1974. He recounted to me that they recruited human volunteers to test the airbags that were eventually standard equipment in every vehicle.
Remind me of Doddy Hay and his book "Man in the Hot Seat. Doddy Hay was a "test pilot" for Martin Baker ejection seats.
Medal of Honor material here. 👏 Risking his life so that others may live. Saving 100k+ people from death, that is awesome.
An excellent video on a subject I knew very little about. Again. And again, and again, and again. THG, you're awesome.
When I saw the title of this video, I knew it was time to get a dish of ice cream, relax, and enjoy Lance's spin on this great man's life and work. What a guy!
We stand on the shoulders of giants. (Of course, so did he.)
A great story of a great guy. Thanks for posting this.
People like John Stapp are the real superheroes of our time. It's sad that media companies spend billions making movies about fictional heroes when we have so many real ones to admire. Kudos to The History Guy for bringing this hero back to us!
In the 1990s you could email Colonel Staap. I told him that I had rescued ‘Oscar’ while in the Coast Guard and got a thanks. There is a photo of him in an Alamogordo parade sitting in a rocket sled mockup during his later years.
I like the description of how Oscar Eightball “sallied forth”. Correct military test nomenclature.
I knew of him before but what an awesome excellent presentation. Thank you History Guy!
It is so easy to take for granted what we have/know today. If it weren't for people like DR Stapp everyone of us would be 'test dummies'' all too often.
The series of photos shot in sequence at 10:20 has been known to me since I was a young boy in the 1950s. Thanks for putting a name to the man with the contorted face after all these decades.
Dr. Stapp is a true pioneering hero.. wow!👍
About a month ago I was a crash test dummy. I fell from my bike about 5 feet vertically down onto hard packed ground , splat, with no roll. Landed at about 19 km/hr , according to Newton, on my side, elbow pressed against ribs. The deceleration occured in about ,01 to .02 seconds. I figure between 20 and 40 g's. Totally mushed and broke my elbow. One week in hospital. Survived.
Great show History Guy.
This one is the best one yet, I think. I really did enjoy it.
One of the great episodes. Thank you
We owe much to Mr stapp
A man whose most important work contributions came after he was fired.