Know whatcha mean, sixties. I used to work for Boeing as a production illustrator (sorta like a draftsman—or is that "draftsperson" now?). In the back of a closet somewhere I have a suitcase full of things like a couple of T-squares, triangles of various sizes and configurations, French curves, ship's curves, templates of various kinds (circles, ovals, odd shapes), lead holders (with a lifetime supply of leads of various grades), Rapid-o-Graph pens (I think I forgot to clean them after I left, so they're probably clogged beyond repair), and things too fierce to mention. There were 125 of us in the production illustration department. Now, the whole schmeer is done by about twelve people with computers (CAD).

In 1983 I got my first computer (KayPro II) complete with WordStar. For several years there I was one of the few people around who could operate a word processor. In 1986, I got a job as a technical writer on that basis. They wanted everything submitted on disk (5¼" floppies), and I was one of the few people they could find who could write on a computer. Now everyone and her brother's pet chicken can operate a word processor.

Well, anyway. The high point of my production illustration career is that the 727-200 #2 engine firewall (the #2 engine is the one the top of the fuselage and under the vertical stabilizer) is mine. I did the engineering drawings for that.

Leonardo da Vinci, eat your heart out!!

Don Firth