STORIES FROM THE PAST

50 years ago

A radically new concept in parachutes is being tested by the Navy at the Naval Air Facility west of El Centro.

It promises to give downed pilots the ability to glide miles to possible safety and has the potential of providing returning space vehicles with the ability to be precisely guided to a landing site as well as the ability to make very “soft” landings.

The system, known as a “paravane,” was brought here Monday by a three-man team from the Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.

The head of the team is Dr. John Nicolaides, head of the aerospace department at the university and a former official of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

He is accompanied by two graduate students, Barney Gorin and Charles Lorenzen.

The device, which the enthusiastic Nicolaides likes to call the “Notre Dame Wing,” is in effect a fabric tail-less glider.

When open it has a span of 26.8 feet and a chord of 13.4 feet.

It is composed of 14 nylon “cells” which are inflated by air entering holes in the leading edge.

This ram air provides lateral rigidity, while the partial vacuum formed over the top of the airfoil provides vertical stiffness.

40 years ago

The Indio Rajahs thought they saw a chance for an upset girls’ basketball victory in Brawley but when the Riverside County girls looked again, the chance was gone.

Nadine Grass placed reserves into action before the third quarter ended of a Desert Valleys League clash.

The Rajahs started whacking away at a 25-point Brawley lead.

Brawley’s starters returned with the Wildcats ahead, 55-44.

Order was restored and the defending DVL champs went thundering on to a 65-46 triumph.

Ray Adams and the Indio girls deserve a tip of the hat.

The Rajahs never surrendered and fought exceptionally hard when they trailed the locals by over 20 points.