Today we lost a true American hero in Neil Armstrong.  Being the first is never an easy task, especially if it's walking on the moon located some 240,000 miles away!  An unbelievable analog accomplishment, especially when viewed in today's digital age.  But getting to the moon has probably always been on the minds of Man from the first time it was seen high in the pre-historic sky.  Most of us have wondered what it would be like, but few have ever seriously attempted to create the vision.  It became a top priority, though, for one of the automobile industry's top designers.  During World War II, getting to the moon became almost an obsession for Alex Tremulis.  Stationed at the top aircraft research lab in the United States, Wright Field, Tremulis was exposed to the state-of-the-art in jet propulsion and he would create some of the most influential illustrations that ultimately led directly to the Space Shuttle program.  And just a quarter century after his early shuttle concepts, he again set his sights on the lunar surface with an advanced two-wheeled Gyronaut lunar rover during the Apollo program.  In today's rememberance of Neil Armstrong, it's worth reflecting back on some of the outer-space concepts that contributed to Tremulis' more Earthbound concepts for automotive design, including the Gyronaut X-1...

It was at the Aircraft Lab at Wright Field where Alex Tremulis first learned of the benefits of using gyroscopes to not only provide stability to an object, but also to allow for exceptionally accurate directional control.  In 1943 he designed what was perhaps the first concepts for a guided missile, using gyroscopes to maintain its heading towards a predetermined location.  The flaps on the fins of his missiles were controlled by the gyros, keeping the missile on target.  The various configurations of his fins would be seen on Nike missiles for several decades, a true testament to Tremulis' understanding of directional control.

In December, 1943, Tremulis created his "Lady in Red" in a design competition for a super-sonic jet aircraft capable of plus Mach 1 speed.  Pre-dating the Bell X-1 by several months, both Tremulis' design and the Bell design incorporated the vision of a "bullet with wings".  Powered by four TG180 jet engines, at that time the top engine available, the Lady in Red also incorporated somewhat unconventional swept-forward wings and the Bonanza-style rudder/tail, similar to that of the 1939 Bugatti Model 100 racer, yet updated for the jet age.

It was Wright Field where the wreckages of downed and captured German advanced aircraft were sent for evaluation.  Part of Tremulis' responsibilities included illustrating what the aircraft looked like prior to its damaged condition.  One of his projects was to illustrate one of the first V2 rockets that had been captured.  The gyroscopically controlled V2 represented an almost undefensible attack once it was launched towards a target.  At left is Tremulis standing at the base of a captured V2 rocket, taken at Wright Field in October, 1945.  A captured Me262 and the Me163B2 Komet, #191301, can be seen in the background, both Germany's top jet/rocket aircraft.  As part of the "War Games" at Wright Field, aircraft designers were tasked to come up with ideas that would leapfrog Germany's next-generation designs. 

At left is what is now considered to be the very start of today's Space Shuttle program.  It started with Tremulis' vision for an interceptor that was to be launched by a rocket booster located in a subterranean missile silo.  The booster would launch the aircraft vertically into the upper atmosphere where the booster would be jettisoned.  The interceptor would then carry out its mission with the help of what Tremulis termed "jeterons" on the flaps of the wings.  He reasoned that with little or no atmosphere, conventional flaps would be useless, so jet-powered ailerons would be needed for control.  After its mission, the jet would land back at the base like a conventional aircraft.  It could then be re-armed and loaded onto another booster rocket for its next mission.  Truly ground-breaking concepts for 1944!

In the May issue of Air Force, Tremulis was featured illustrating (or re-illustrating) his interceptor concept.  Victory in Europe (VE Day) was on May 8, 1945, so there was probably little concern for disclosing confidential plans to the enemy. 

In October 1945, just two months following the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Tremulis' interceptor illustration took on a much more sinister use.  It was featured on the front page of the Chicago Sun and was described as a rocket-propelled, radar controlled, atomic bomb.  Chester Holifield, the state representative from California, is also shown holding a miniature model of Tremulis' "Lady in Red" from 1943.  In the 1950's, Holifield would go on to be a presidential advisor on both the atomic energy commission and nuclear weapons testing.  He also advocated that the United States build an infrastructure of underground nuclear fallout shelters, but also became an advocate of nuclear disarmament.  But these headlines probably did little to slow the arms race in 1945.

October, 1944:  Despite the politician's use of his ideas for nuclear warfare, Tremulis saw a greater potential for good in the ability to use rockets and jet propulsion to one day land a man on the moon.  Here, his futuristic illustration for a moon-bound spaceship again makes headlines just at the beginning of the jet age, and surely influenced many aircraft designers into thinking about how to accomplish such a lofty goal.  Included in this advanced rendering are the Tremulis "jeterons" necessary for directional control in outer space.  No doubt, this illustration sparked imaginations around the world.

By the late-1950's, serious plans were in the works to bring the aircraft/booster rocket project to fruition, mainly spurred on by Russia's successful launch of the Sputnik satellite.  Dubbed the "Dyna-Soar" project, its goal was most probably to launch a nuclear bomb halfway around the world with just a few minutes of warning.  Headed up by none other than one of the V2's original inventors, Wernher von Braun, the Dyna-Soar project lasted until the very end of the 1960's with hundereds of millions of dollars expended.  The lessons learned from the project would be used in the development of the next generation of rocket-boosted orbital aircraft, the Space Shuttle.

Tremulis and von Braun would both correspond to one another throughout the 1960's, each one encouraging the other to look past the moon towards the stars and other galaxies - both true visionaries!

By the early 1960's, with the help of then-president Kennedy's address to Congress, it was clear that landing a man on the moon was going to happen.   All the magazines and newspapers carried news of the Apollo program and captivated a nation in a race with Russia to put a man on the moon.  One of Tremulis' fellow designers at Wright Field went on to become one of the most knowlegeable authors on the Russian space program and often wrote articles for leading publications of the day.  It would be Donald J. Ritchie who would bring the attention back to his former colleague during one such article for Popular Mechanics.  Outstanding recognition for Tremulis from one of the most respected authorities on the space race.

So just how did the Gyronaut end up in plans to become a motorcycle for the lunar landscape?  You first have to revisit the history of the Gyronaut:  The first concept for the land speed record motorcycle was to incorporate Tremulis' stabilizing gyroscope, both at the front and rear of the bike (hence the name "GYROnaut").

In 1964, the Gyronaut team of Alex Tremulis, Bob Leppan, and Jim Bruflodt obtained a war surplus gyroscope and fitted it to one of Leppan's conventional motorcycle frames.  In a demonstration for the stabilizing power of the gyro, press photos captured the bike standing on two stools, all the while remaining motionless in an upright position.  Unfortunately, the needed support from the gyro manufacturers for this part of the Gyronaut remained ellusive and the gyroscope for the land speed record bike was dropped in favor of a more conventional setup.  But Tremulis never let his dream die, and soon he would have his working prototype for a gyroscopically stabilized automobile.

In 1966, the same year the Gyronaut X-1 became the world's fastest motorcycle, Tremulis joined Tom Summers who was also pursueing a gyroscopically stabilized two-wheeled car.  With Tremulis' styling and Summers' knowledge, a working prototype of the car was built.  Named the Gyron at one point, it would later be known as the GyroDynamics Gyro-X and proved out the concept that a small car could start, stop and corner without falling over on just two wheels.  Another outstanding achievement in automobile design.  Tremulis would be named to the Gyrodynamics Board of Directors.

The main concept that Tremulis would pursue to place a Gyronaut on the surface of the moon was based upon the GyroDynamics "Trailmobile", a two-wheeled gyroscopically stabilized transport built for the US Forestry Service.  With just two inline wheels, very narrow trails could be scaled and with the gyroscope there was very little risk of the Trailmobile falling over, even at very slow speeds.  Steadier than a mule without the stubborness and able to traverse ground that would be unpassable to four-wheeled vehicles.

As luck would have it, also on the Board of Directors for GyroDynamics was Apollo astronaut Tom Stafford.  This set in motion a means for Tremulis to sketch out plans for designing a Lunar Rover vehicle based on a two-wheeled layout, using a gyroscope to maintain stability.  He reasoned that the lunar landscape was going to be very rough and treacherous and there wouldn't be enough smooth ground for a conventional four-wheeled setup.  To conserve space, the rover was to begin its mission folded up, and then just prior to landing on the moon's surface, it would unfold into the lunar motorcycle rover.

Tremulis would get his chance to present his concepts to the NASA space teams during an invitation to several of the Apollo launches.  As usual, his rendering of the lunar module and the two-wheeled Gyronaut rover was spectacular and illustrated well his creative vision for not only landing a man on the moon, but by this time, driving (or more precisely, riding) on the moon.  The concepts were first discussed with Stafford at the pre-launch parties for Apollo 7, where Stafford was the backup commander for the mission.  Emblazoned on the side of the rover was the identical "G" that the earthbound Gyronaut X-1 carried in 1964 and 1965. 

October 1968:  The GyroDynamics company and spouses (8 total) visit Cape Kennedy as distinguished guests of astronaut Tom Stafford.  It was hoped that GyroDynamics would eventually be contracted to build the prototype for the two-wheeled Gyronaut concept for a Lunar Rover. 

And back to the sketches...

Tremulis' scale drawings for the existing lunar lander and his folding Gyronaut lander illustrates the compactness of its design.  In automobile design, he had often showed his lowered designs next to the profile of the existing cars, a technique that exemplified the sleekness of his new concepts.  This technique worked well in selling radical styling to his superiors back then, and he used it once again to get the point across with his folding rover concept.

The folding Gyronaut rover, tucked into position for space travel, took up little space within the capsule.  Tremulis' concept was ingenious, but the timing and logistics of carrying out such an ambitious feat would prove to be a little too late for the planned rover missions just around the corner.

Always refining and redefining the concept, Tremulis bent the ear of anyone willing to hear out his unconventional concepts.  However, the discussions with various other astronauts and experts led to further space concepts, but would eventually lead Tremulis to the conclusion that his gyroscopically stabilized motorcycle was probably impractical for traversing the lunar landscape with just too many unanswered questions remaining about its feasibility.  Additionally, plans were already well-underway for a four wheeled lunar rover that would eventually be the chosen design for the first "car" to drive on the moon.

However, one particularly notable project did come to fruition through Tremulis' efforts to put the Gyronaut design onto the lunar surface.  Brand new Corvettes had always been "donated" by GM to the astronauts all throughout the 1960's and the Apollo 12 team was no exception.  At the pre-launch festivities Astronaut Alan Bean and Tremulis discussed the "AstroVettes" that his team were soon to receive from General Motors.    It was Bean's idea to have all three painted in the same color scheme for the other two astronauts, Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon.  Their discussion led Alex Tremulis to derive three similar but different proposals for the crew's much anticipated Corvettes.

Bean had already ordered the three 1969 Corvettes in "Riverside Gold" so Tremulis devised the black wings as the color combo.  On the side of proposal number 3 was also a red/white/blue logo that would delineate the identity of each of the crew members.  Tremulis had used the identical color scheme of gold and black and the identical logo ID's for the Gyronaut X-1 and its crew of Tremulis (red), Leppan (white) and Bruflodt (blue) on the side of the motorcycle projectile back in 1964.

It would be Alan Bean who would choose a combination of the three Tremulis proposals and had the paintwork carried out by Jim Rathmann, the 1960 Indy 500 winner and a Chevrolet dealer in Melbourne, Florida.  The cars were delivered on time and painted up as proposed, including the red, white and blue logos for each of the drivers.  Bean's was blue with the initials LMP signifying his capacity as the Lunar Module Pilot for the Apollo 12 mission.

So, even though Alex Tremulis never had the astronauts ride his Gyronaut motorcycle concept on the surface of the moon, he was able to create a roadgoing look-alike modeled after his Gyronaut's 1964 color scheme.  And what better way to illustrate the World's Fastest Motorcycle than to have it envelope the brand new 1969 Corvette "AstroVettes" for Astronauts Alan Bean, Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon?  In his own way Tremulis shot for the moon and landed with the stars!

This short preview captures just a small part of the Gyronaut X-1's history.  We're
looking for sponsors to help bring this historical bike back to its former glory and
the Bonneville Salt Flats.  It deserves a complete restoration and to have its story
told. A big thanks to both Curt Wallin and John Greene, the filmmakers who brought
you the award-winning documentary "The Boys of Bonneville: Racing on a Ribbon
of Salt", about legendary racer Ab Jenkins and his one-of-a-kind racing Duesenbergs.