Aircraft of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center 

    
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Goddard Space
Flight Center (GSFC), located at Greenbelt, Md., about 10 miles northeast
of Washington, D.C., operated a variety of aircraft during the 1960s and
1970s in support of unmanned scientific satellites and manned flight
programs, including the Apollo moon missions. I was lucky enough to be a
part of this operation, and arranged a transfer from the scientific side
of the house to the Aircraft Operations at the start of the Apollo Program
in 1965. The introduction of aircraft into Goddard’s activities actually
began in 1958, when they acquired the use of a Grumman S2F-1 Tracker,
BuNo. 129151, that belonged to the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL),
Washington, D.C., and used it to perform Mini-Track calibrations for
Project Vanguard. This aircraft was followed by a Douglas DC-3, actually
an ex-military C-53D-DO Skytrooper, or probably better known as a
"Gooney Bird." This aircraft was acquired in 1959 by Bendix Field
Engineering Corporation (BFEC) for Goddard and was registered as N2733A,
and used the call sign NASA 33A. The Air Force serial was 42-68709, c/n
11636. The aircraft was modified with electronic systems to act as a
Mercury spacecraft simulator. The results from the use of this aircraft
were very good, but it lacked payload and range for many of the up coming
missions. 
     The Douglas C-53D and all future Goddard aircraft
were based at Friendship Airport in Baltimore, Md., now named
Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Aircrews, electronics
personnel, and maintenance were provided under contract by BFEC, with home
offices in Owings Mills, Md. The Bendix Aircraft Operations were initially
headed up by Donald Gempler, and later by Howard Naslund, and the chief
pilot was William "Bill" Morgan (deceased), maintenance chief was
Marvin "Marv" Merryman, and the head of electronics was William "Bill"
Eakes. The Goddard Aircraft Operations section head was …