His son called him “the first man to fly a used spacecraft.” The father called himself “just a pilot in a new plane.” Col. Joe Engle, Kansas University graduate who had returned to the campus, was to be the commander for the second flight of the space shuttle Columbia, the “space truck” that less than two weeks earlier had shot into space, circled the globe 36 times and landed perfectly in California. Astronaut Engle was a 1955 KU graduate from Chapman and his son was enrolled here as a freshman.

Five people lost fishing tackle during an accidental water release at Clinton Dam. Project manager Vic Counts said adjustment to flood gates were under way when an unknown amount of water washed through the spillway unexpectedly. The gates were closed immediately and there were no no other problems and no injuries.