AEOLUS AEROSPACE

13/02/28 · 作者：不详来源

"What exactly is 'Aeolus Aerospace', anyway?"

Aeolus Aerospace is the private organisation under which I carry out my various activities in the specialities of aerospace life support, human factors, aviation medicine and space physiology, and NBC protection technology. While most of my work presently centers on historical matters within these areas, I am also actively involved with them as a writer, researcher, and consultant. Formerly active with the US Air Force in the mid-60s as an aeromedical specialist, I later spent over 10 years in the Middle East working on various medical projects for the Saudi government as a civilian medical practitioner and have also lived and worked in China for a somewhat briefer term. Perhaps owing to my Irish-American heritage, I am an enthusiastic (what a friend once termed "hack") writer; written works include a collection of stories about expatriate life in 'The Kingdom' ('Wahoo Backdoor', 1992), an historical romance about life in Santa Cruz Country ('Half the Sky, Half the Earth', 1989), a collection of Gulf War poems ('One Thousand and One Arabian Days', 1993), and an illustrated, hardbound, 240 page history of US military and civilian defense protective respirators ('US Chemical and Biological Defense Respirators: An Illustrated History', 1999). My favorite fixed-wing military aircraft is the Convair Mach-II "Six", which I became closely associated with at Minot AFB in North Dakota while working with ADC's 5th FIS crews. It remains a special passion in my life today as one of the most aesthetically appealing of the 'Century Series' designs of the post WWII period. Presently on the Board of Directors at the McClellan Aviation Foundation Museum (former McClellan AFB Museum in Sacramento, CA) and editor of CONTACT, the museum's quarterly newsletter. Visit the museum at: "http://www.mcclellanaviationmuseum.org/" or dial up the AEOLUS AEROSPACE website for some interesting articles on life support, aircrew flight helmets, high altitude pressure suits, military oxygen systems, and a number of other similarly related subjects ( http://webs.lanset.com/aeolusaero ).

Ever since the events of 9/11, 'gasmasks' appear to be an auction item for which there is tremendous activity on EBay. Although many poeple now wish to obtain protective masks as self-defense against the erstwhile 'terrorist bio-threat', these curious icons of individual chemical and biological protection are sought after by a number of individuals that includes collectors, historians, reference scholars, sellers of military surplus; regrettably, some individuals who even appear to have a sexual fetish for them (I don't personally understand this, but 'live and let live', I suppose). Today, each week sees a number of these items go up for bid, in many cases offered by people who have little if any basic knowledge of them, have misidentified them, or simply lack any interest at all in them except insofar as they are sellable items. Until the present time, there has previously been no informational resource available for the purpose of helping individuals gain knowledge of respirator identifications, history, and/or specifics. This changed with the 1999 publication of my hardbound & profusely illustrated reference book on 'gasmasks' entitled 'US Chemical and Biological Defense Respirators: An Illustrated History'. Published by Schiffer Publishing of Atglen, PA., as part of their excellent Military History Series, this 240 page book contains a wealth of information on virtually every mask ever designed or worn by US military or civilian defense personnel, from 1900 through the year 2000. It is available through any book seller, including Barnes & Noble, Amazon Books, and Borders Books for about $38 to $45 (depending on available discounted rates). There are over 600 color and B&W illustrations contained in the book and it would make an excellent reference for anyone, from military historians to collectors and suplus dealers. The book's ISBN is 07-6430-3872.