The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 29

Palm Beach Post -Times. Sunday, July 18, 1971 B9 Long Road to Disappointment Politics and Technology: 'Strange Bedfellows' and they worked hard to support the lanky engineer in whom they had placed their hopes. The size and scope of the contract was staggering. "If we get this one, I'm going to ask for an office on the seventh floor," one engineer joked. The company wasn't quite that confident, but it did build a third floor on its huge manufacturing and administratiion building which encloses about seven acres under its roof.

In April, the competition moved into the home stretch. The final exhausting sales push. The submittal of a voluminous proposal detailing all the company's plans. The patient task of justifying its bid to members of an evaluation board. Then the tedious wait for a decision where the minutes must have dragged on like hours to project chief Mulready.

Then Tuesday a U.S. senator blurted out the decision in Los Angeles "Rocketdyne. In Palm Beach County shock. It was unbelieveable to Pratt Whitney engineers. They thought it had been a sure thing, that they were only going through the preliminary motions before getting the contract.

Losing had been put out of their minds. But now reality no jobs for rocket engineers in Palm Beach County. It was all over except for the shouting, and in Washington the shouting was loud. Florida senators claimed it was a political deal, that unemployment in California had become the major factor in the decision. But of greater concern was that shuttle launching also would be located in California, leaving Cape Kennedy a deserted, ghost town.

The shouts were little consolation to Mulready who declined to say anything publicly. It wasn't necessary. He had revealed his feelings a few weeks earlier when he was asked what his reaction would be if Pratt Whitney lost the contract. "I'll personally be very disappointed if we don't get it," he said. "Half of my working life has been spent on this engine.

outer space and return to the earth's surface and refuel like an airplane for another flight. A reusable rocket was inevitable, Pratt Whitney decided in 1959. The company now needed a quarterback to lead its team project in a game which would last at least a decade. Thev handed the ball to Mulready. Now he wore more than just the hard hat of the development engineer.

He had become a salesman. He scoured the aerospace industry to determine what concepts were on the drawing boards. Then he settled on his basic design. The Air Force which had an experimental rocket program at one time was receptive to his concept and gave him the initial contract. Some component work was started.

It was a tough sales job. but Mulready saw the potential and pushed himself on, relaxing only to race his sleek 34-foot Morgan sailboat in the Sunday events off Singer Island. "But we haven't seen much of him or his boat in the past year," a sailor, who raced against him. said. Mulready would dash out to the Beeline Highway plant to confer with his engineers on a test problem, then grab his briefcase and miniature model engine for one of his endless trips throughout the country.

His time was always valuable. "He was says one engineer who worked with him. "One time we flew out to LA to talk with some people there. When we finished early, he ran to the airport and hopped a plane to Seattle to make another contact. "Then that night, he flew back to LA all in one day." The space shuttle idea was now in the embryo stage an heir apparent to the Apollo moon landing program.

But from Mulread-y's point of view the contract situation was changing. "In the early days, you could shoot out a mass of proposals and you were bound to get something," one sales engineer said. "But then the money tightened up and pickings became lean." As a salesman, Mulready now had one chance in his lifetime to make the big sale. The price tag on his item was $500 million, enough to make any salesman nervous. In 1963, Pratt Whitney built a multimil-lion dollar test stand at its Florida plant to test the parts on Mulready 's high pressure engine.

Dedicated with the good wishes of guest speaker former Gov. Farris Bryant, the facility's cost deeply committed the company to the space shuttle competition. The engine soon took shape. The test results were encouraging, giving Mulready what he thought was a big lead over his toughest rival, Rocketdyne Division of North American Corp. which had its hands full with the propulsion system of the Apollo program.

However, as the competition developed in intensity there was one ominous signal. Long after Pratt Whitney had settled on its design and was testing parts, NASA allowed its competitors to redesign their engines, incorporating some of Mulready's ideas. Then the race became serious. Each company knew it had to win the space shuttle contract to remain in the rocket engine business. For these industries, it was a life or death battle.

"It was the only piece of action around," explained one engineer. The winners would take ail. For the losers, there would be nothing because no company had the capital resources to maintain a competitive position with the winner. The big picture made the competition even more important. The space shuttle had the potential although maybe not until the next century of replacing present day jet airliners as the major meansof transcontinental travel.

"If there is a place for us in the rocket field, this is it," Mulready said then. "We put all our technology into this engine, Among the nontechnical employes at the Pratt Whitney plant, the project became known simply as "Mulready's engine." They all knew it was one the company had to win Continued from Page Bl Despite the obstacles. Mulready and the other young engineers were enthusiastic about the challenge. Typical of development programs, there were problems explosions, malfunctions, slippages in schedule and eventually an inquiry before a congressional committee. "Strange bedfellows, this combination of politics and technology." one engineer said.

After several explosions on the pad during launches from Cape Kennedy, the Centaur, using Pratt Whitney's new liquid hydrogen engines, eventually proved successful. Its greatest moment was landing the Surveyor spacecraft on the moon giving TV viewers on earth the first closeup glimpse of the lunar surface. While astronauts were whizzing around in orbit and Centaurs were probing outer space. Dr. von Braun was readying the Saturn rocket to place men on the moon.

It, too. used Pratt Whitney engines in its upper stages and flew flawlessly under the direction of launch director Dr. Curt Debus, the German engineer distinguished by the dueling scars that marred his face. "The Saturn is a Hercules." a National Aeronautics and Space Administration i NASA I official once said. "In transportation, it will rank with the Model and the Spirit of St.

Louis." Somewhere in the maze of rockets that made the Cape look like a July 4th fireworks display. Pratt Whitney decided the U.S. couldn't continue to discard an expensive rocket with each launching. "It's like building a new airplane for every flight." said a NASA officials. Eventually, research engineers said, economics will brush aside the expensive star-dust that clouds the admiring eyes of American taxpayers watching launchings at the Cape.

NASA would have to build a reusable rocket something that could do the job in r' 1 Dick Mulready: Shuttle Man 2 DAYS ONLY! Sears Auto Centers Hours SUNDAY 12:30 to 5:30 P.M., SHOP MONDAY 8:30 A.M. 'til 9:30 P.M. Riviera Seeks Developer For Beach-Business Area Sears fife SEAT COVER PRICES SLASHED! Save $5.1 1 on Jeweltone Brocade Tufted Givers tt.W 88 hit- Mit jr. 359) Save $5.11 on Nvlon Stretch Seat Cover I) lira hi I it anil ron en icnrr ol i I i I texture ami frrl of rich. heav cloth fabric, foam burking lor maximum sirin.

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Development bids will be received until 3 p.m. Aug. 23. They are being solicited through advertisements in newspapers. Leases up to 50 years will be considered, says City Manager Robert Baldwin.

The City Council zoned the land to permit a restaurant-lounge, gift shops, beach apparel shops, recreation facilities, physical culture services and stores selling sundries and confectionery products. Old buildings on the land were torn down about 18 months ago. The buildings had been vacant since April 1, 1968. as the city announced plans to rejuvenate the area. Several years ago the city worked out a contract with Continental Con-Dev.

Co. to lease the land for $50,000 a year. The city also expected about $30,000 a year in taxes. But that plan fell through when the courts ruled the city couldn't negotiate a long-term lease on the property. Since then, the city got permission from the state legislature to sell or lease the land.

The new zoning. Smith says, will prevent "honky-tonk" development and encourage developers to submit bids. There have been informal inquiries from potential developers, he said. BILL TERRY RIVIERA BEACH A search has started to find a developer to turn a strip of beachland here into a profitable operation for the city. The Riviera Beach public beach is the only one between here and the county beach about 10 miles north at Jupiter.

The land the city wants to lease is between Ocean Boulevard and a city-owned parking lot. The public beach and parking lot have been closed at night since October due to concern about drug traffic. When the strip is developed. City Planner Art Smith said the 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

curfew will have to be lifted so the new stores can stay open at night. Another factor arose last week when Pratt Whitney Aircraft failed to win a $500 million contract and indicated layoffs were pending. Many Pratt Whitney employes use the beach facilities here. However, Mayor Lucius Hill said he doesn't think the Pratt Whitney situation will hurt the city's search for a developer. "Most of the beach is tourist oriented." he said.

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