Training Charlie Bolden

Here is a story from my book, "Houston, You Have a Problem" It is about my first meeting with Charlie Bolden. Download the book for free at lulu.com -- search for "deger".

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Entry Guidance Work:
One of the first classes I took was “Entry Guidance.” I loved it. I love new and different technical material. I will attempt to not get too technical, but in a nut shell, Entry Guidance flies the shuttle from the time the shuttle first gets in the atmosphere until Mach 2.5. Before this point the shuttle flies like a satellite – no effects of the atmosphere. At Mach 2.5 it behaves as an aircraft. From Mach 25 to Mach 2.5 the shuttle transitions from satellite laws of motion to aircraft laws of motion. I took the class, read the book, and flew the simulator with an instructor. At the end of these classes I knew I didn’t know what was happening to the shuttle. I had been taught to memorize some key phrases, but that was about it. My mind became obsessed with what a pilot-astronaut needed to know to operate the shuttle in this phase of flight. I don’t consider myself in many ways all that smart. I can’t spell. I can’t do mental math. But, when my mind gets on a technical problem it will not let go. This sounds weird, but I literally dream about technical problems. When I shave and shower, I think about the problem. As I drive to work I think about the problem. As I watch TV, I think about the problem. This is why I didn’t have to study much to take my finals. I don’t need to sit in front of a book to “study.” The problem consumes my mind 24 hours a day until I solve it. After about six months I started to come to grips with the problem of Entry Guidance. It is really not that hard, but I had to think about it for a long time to come up with the simple solutions I came up with.
Our class was obviously written by an instructor that read the complex flight software documents and wrote about the details of the flight software. It had little to do with flight dynamics as a pilot sees them. For example, the class spent a great deal of time going over what phase the guidance flight software was in. Important information for the software guys – useless information to the pilots. The Shuttle cockpit displays don’t even let the pilot know what phase you are in. I decided to drop this from the class when I got the chance. Second, the primary flight display on entry places an “orbiter bug” based on current range and current velocity. There are lines of drag on the display. I was taught to interpolate between the lines and you would get your current drag. I realized this was wrong. You can be at 1,500 miles away going Mach 20 – but at 400,000 feet and have very little drag. You can be at 1,500 miles away going Mach 20 – but be at 120,000 feet and have lots of drag. The orbiter bug in both cases would be on the same place on the display and looking at the drag lines would give the same drag. I did some research and realized the display was not
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giving current drag, but desired drag – the drag you need to fly to get home. Too little drag and you would over shoot the landing site. Too much drag and you would land short or burn up.
I had my first opportunity to “fix the system” was with a brilliant pilot named Charlie Bolden. I was not even his official instructor. I was the instructor trainee. My training mentor was named T.Q. Tran. A wonderful lady that knew flight dynamics was not her strength. She asked me to teach Charlie his Entry Guidance class before his third flight. I was thrilled. I put a class together just for him. We met in his office. Charlie had never seen me in his life. Very early I told him, “The orbiter bug position gives you your desired drag.” I knew this would get his attention and I was right.
He stopped me right way, “Danny, the orbiter bug is your current drag. This is my third flight and I have always been taught the bug is current drag.”
I told him, “I know you have been taught that, but you have been taught wrong.” After some discussion I convinced him I was not crazy and might be right. I told him I knew I was revolutionizing Entry Guidance training and I needed some time and a lot of coordination to get it taught right. It took me about two years, but I finally changed the class to teach the astronauts the correct use of the display.