7 Min read

Gateway Arch, St. Louis

Pilot’s Glory

Math geek alert*

Toolbox, ages 9 to 99*

AVAILABLE ON PODCAST

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I want to share two moments with you, rendering them as best as I am able. They are startling in the manner that makes an imprint, a fully sensual memory. Perhaps what makes them so vivid is the sheer unexpectedness of the occurrence. Though they happened a few days ago, I will write in the present tense to capture them as fully as possible.

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The soaring Gateway Arch in St. Louis lets travelers know they have crossed the Mississippi River. Standing in the park, scanning the legs upward is dizzying and I have to shut my eyes and open them several times to get my bearings, astonished at the sheer size of the structure. I look down and walk a bit, look up again. It is quiet and cool when I reach the south leg, I run my right hand along the smooth steel panel, roughly my height and welded to adjacent panels. Sunrise hits the surface and makes the eastern band of this monolith a gleaming white. The cross section of each arch leg is an equilateral triangle and anchors into the ground on both sides some 60 feet.

Positioned directly beneath the arch at its highest point, I see the top, which is 630 feet in the air. The windows resemble a column of tiny black tallies. With arms extended upward and hands framing the apex, the section inside my fingers reminds me of blue-white peppermint candy, the shady west side is blue and the east is morning white. A group of dots move into my hand frame and surprises me. Birds (!) fly across my picture and through the arch, dark against a cerulean canvas.

Life is art in motion. I breathe in the open air, slowly and deeply. This is the first moment, a joy and sense of the sublime, the confluence of human achievement and abundance. I am small, insignificant in this tableau. But, I am here, as others were before and others will be after.

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— But, I am here, as others were before and others will be after. —

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Where I am standing is the direct center of both legs. Consider lying on your back and looking up. The distance extends over two football fields. In a phone video shot from the observation platform of the arch, a helicopter could be seen below as it flies above the river and landing pad. Pictographs have images of the statue of liberty under half the arch’s height, a giant redwood and sequoia roughly half, and the Space Needle fits inside the arch! Below the arch’s apex, on the ground, I am a football field away from either leg.

The simplistic and beautiful design follows a catenary curve, the same as the curve of a hanging chain, only inverted. It may not appear so, but the distance between its legs and the height of the arch are the same, 630 feet. It’s an architectural and mathematical marvel. The grassy park stretches north and south along the river with undulating paths, echoing the structure. As the sun rises, the light moves along the arch. Trees line the long looping walkways and draw me down the corridors of branches touching overhead.

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Lewis and Clark began and ended their expedition (1804 to 1806) here in St Loius. The Gateway Arch is the symbol of westward expansion for the young nation and a larger-than-life scultpture of both men with their Newfoundland dog is erected by the river at the base of a cascade of concrete steps which flow out from the arch.

I did not go up inside though you can take the one-of-a-kind tram to the observation platform. There was not enough time and maybe I was a bit scared and maybe I relished the arch as it is, in size, in construction, in steel and concrete, in the realization of the architect Eero Saarinen’s imagination. This excerpt describes how I felt at the time, how going inside the arch was a bit too much like tearing apart the baby’s rattle, mesmerized as I was by it.

You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. 

American Publisher and Editor, Francis Pharcellus Church in the most reprinted newspaper editorial in the English language. Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

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On a plane into LaGuardia from the window seat on the port side, what looks like a block-sized “Italian Rainbow cookie” (you know the ones coated in chocolate) slowly grows in size and becomes a colorful circle around the plane, and then a double rainbow. Called a Pilot’s Glory, it is a rare optical phenomenon caused by light’s interaction with tiny water droplets, in this case from the setting sun at the rear of the plane. What likely began as a distant patch of rain formed the initial square. As we move into the rain, the setting sun creates a glory or a diffraction of light into a spectrum of colors. This has been recorded in history and is visible more often at elevated settings.

When the plane descends into clouds, the glory disappears. I worry about the pilot flying on instruments only, without line-of-sight to the landing strip. Water droplets stream nearly horizontal across my seat window. When the plane breaks beneath the clouds, the horizon is flaming orange behind the New York skyline, a sillouette of skyscrapers and empire against the setting sun. I’ve landed in the area many times and have not seen the likes.

You can view a video of the Pilot’s Glory with pictures of the skyline on fire from my seat at this link.

This second moment seeing and flying into the Glory felt otherworldy, as if we were heading into a portal to the heavens. It grew from a shimmering gold and red patch which was not muted or faded, but brilliant and defined. Passengers had window shades down and as it circled us, others began to exclaim. Rainbow! See it? It’s around the plane. It’s a double!

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The St. Louis in my mind meets St. Louis on the ground. And in the arch, at the courthouse, in the blues and ragtime at the Joplin House, in the stories of Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea. In the friends and colleagues I saw while there. The river and the boats, the barbecue on the Loop and the Italian toasted raviolis on the Hill. In the custard at Drewes which I devoured on the way to the airport.

There is something unpretentious yet grand about the city with its expansive avenues, and it’s taken hold of me.

The place and the sense of being where you can see into the distance or into a long stretch of sky are part of the people. Inseparable. With these two moments taken in greedily and tucked away carefully, this final and spectacular view beneath the clouds and rain make coming back to New York sublime.

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FOOTNOTES

*Writing Toolbox – write with intention and write with the senses. In this letter, I expand two moments and render them as fully as I can on the page for you, all the details, the classic five senses and the extra senses of kinesthetic (relation of the body to its surroundings) and organic (internal body such as breathing). Link to THL Writing through the seven senses. Excerpt:

Consider the traditional five senses processed through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin. These sense organs allow us to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. Your head, the human head, is extraordinary. The brain processes the five senses, how we experience the world.

Imagine the (1) feel of a rose petal against the cheek, its (2) sweet fragrance, the (3) pale pink hue, the (4) silky taste of it, the (5) silence when you release it in the wind.

Two extra senses. What then are the two extra senses? Music professor Pat Pattison* describes them as organic and kinesthetic.

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*TRAVEL NOTES on St. Louis

• Favazza’s on The Hill – great bread basket, eggplant parm, and Sicilian Chicken.
• Salt and Smoke on the Loop – near Wash U and fun shops, great college vibe. Delicious brisket which I had on a grilled cheese with pimento.
• Joplin House perfect hour+ tour for the musician, especially ragtime and blues fans.
• Hammerstone for nightly blues and pub food. LOUD so consider Broadway Oyster Bar, which looked happening and I wish I had time to visit.
• Ted Drewes Frozen Custard – OMG get anything. It’s old-timey walk-up so if it’s a warm day, plan to wait.
• WALKS/JOGS: The Gateway Arch – MUST walk up to it! take a morning walk or jog around the park and down to the river trail, roughly 2 to 3 miles. I loved walking into down town along Market Street to see Soldiers Memorial, Sculpture Park, Statues of Grant and memorial to Dred Scott, amazing buildings and architecture.
• Cardinals game at the stadium. I didn’t go but it’s right there for sports fans.
• St. Louis Zoo — it’s free! all of it, the art museum, the park, etc. Visited the pachyderms and loved the elephants! Hippos were fun, all three on top of each other in the water. Didn’t have much time but you can see an exhibit and return when it’s gratis.
• St. Louis University – Billikens (the school’s charm doll mascot, a cross between Buddha and a gremlin) with statue outside to rub his belly for luck. Spent a lot of time here watching Army Volleyball for three days at a tournament in Chaifetz Arena. Lots of friends and fans in the area! HUGE SHOUTOUT to all of them and especially to Frances, Shelley, and Karen with all the good recs.

*GATEWAY ARCH. Basilica St.Louis is on the park and I stopped in to light a candle; has a long history with the city. Here’s the MATH FUN!!! Learn more about the Gateway Arch online. Check out the fact sheet from the National Park Service and see math at work. AKA engineering.

General Facts

Outer Width – Outside North Leg to Outer South Leg
630′ (192m)

Maximum Height
630′ (192m)

Shape of Arch Section
Equilateral Triangle

Dimension of Arch at Base
54 ft. (16.46m)

Dimension of Arch at Top
17 ft. (5.18m)

Size of Windows
Approx. 7″ x 27″ (180 mm x 690 mm)

Construction of Windows
3/4 in. (19mm) Plate Glass; Hinged and Locked

Size of Observation Room
7′ 2″ x 65′ x 6′ 9″ high (2.18m x 19.8m x 2.06m)

Capacity of Observation Platform
100 – 140 persons

Deflection of Arch
18″ in 150 MPH wind (0.46 m in 240 km/h wind)

Method of Determining Deflection of Arch
Calculations and Wind Tunnel Tests (240 km/h)

Number of Sections in Arch
142

Thickness of Plates for Outer Skin
1/4″ (6.3mm)

Type of Material Used in Arch Exterior
Stainless Steel; #3 Finish Type 304

Structural Capacity of Observation Area
100 lb/sq. ft (488 kg/m)

Weight of Steel in Arch

Weight of Concrete

“Capsule Trains” or “Trams” operated by Bi-State Development Agency

Transporter safeties are maintained on 4 wheel chassis that are connected to the last capsule and which are activated when the transporter exceeds the rated speed by 15% in the downward direction. The safety consists of an eccentric dog that locks on the track to stop and hold the transporter. The safety is connected to the last capsule by means of a hydraulic buffer 24″ (0.6 m) long that provides constant deceleration until the transporter is stopped. A similar system is installed on the counter weights, with a hydraulic buffer 18″ (0.5 m) long.

Elevators (for stand-by emergency and maintenance service)

Stairs (for emergency maintenance use only)

Symbol Key

m = meters

kPa = kilopascals

” = inches

ft = feet

mm = millimeters

kW = kilowatts