According to Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, an elegy is “a mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead”; also “a sad or mournful musical composition”. To these I would add a photographic essay of a sad, mournful, or melancholy event.

When the decision was finally made to demolish NASA Langley’s 16 Foot Transonic Wind Tunnel, many at the Center felt a very real sense of sadness, loss, melancholy, and even betrayal. It was easy to find people who had devoted a significant portion, if not all of their careers, working there. And the work at 16 Foot, as she was called, was physically demanding, and frequently dirty. In the winters she could be brutally cold, and in the Virginia summers, stiflingly hot. Because of power constraints, normal operating hours were 11 pm to 7:30 am. All of this combined to create a strong camaraderie among those who called her home.

16 Foot was a massive structure of steel, and reinforced concrete, built to last for many generations. She would not succumb to explosives in some ignominious cloud of dust and debris. Deconstructing her required much the same level of planning, skill and expertise that went into building her. Always the work was hard; at times it was frustratingly difficult. In the words of Dylan Thomas, she did “not go gentle into that good night”.

Life is a circle, and what comes must eventually go. As painful as it may be for some to look at, this photo elegy is meant to help close that circle.