For many, the space race is either a distant memory or something in history books.

But for Claiborne Hollis, 86, of Natchez it’s part of his life’s work.

Hollis’ career put him front and center of our country’s race to space. He worked as a senior designer at Chance Vought Aircraft, now Vought Aircraft Division at Triumph Aerostructures.

His love affair with flight began when he was 4, and he and his father went for a ride in a Ford Tri-Motor airplane in Natchez.

Afterward, his interest turned skyward, and he used to watch the skies, including birds, from his grandparents’ house on the bluff in Natchez.

“Anything that flew, I had an interest in,” Hollis said.

However, after he began work at Vought, Sputnik was launched. The space race had begun.

Vought competed for the contract to design a command module for NASA, and Hollis supervised its construction.

It was a job that came with perks. One day he was able to meet J.S. McDonnell, who helped design the Ford Tri-Motor airplane that inspired Hollis’ career.

“It became my privilege and my duty to show J.S. McDonnell through the command module,” Hollis said.

Ultimately though, NASA picked another team.

“They gave them the contract, but they used our design,” Hollis said.

More projects followed. When an engineer came up with an idea to create a flight simulator for astronauts, it was up to Hollis to help make it a reality.

While it was another project that never came to fruition, Hollis designed a two-story building, with a basement, to house all the computing equipment for the simulator.

Hollis smiled when he remembered how much things have changed since then.

“That computing power can now probably be put in your wristwatch,” Hollis said.

When the Apollo mission finally approached the Moon, Hollis stayed up late with his family to watch Neil Armstrong take his historic first step.

“I felt like I contributed something to that,” Hollis said.

However, Hollis did not spend his whole life working on the space program, since he was only on loan to them.

When he retired, Hollis returned to Natchez and moved into his grandparents’ house, where he’d once dreamed of flight.

“Natchez is a special place to me,” he said. “It’s home.”

However, a quick look around his new workspace, Claiborne P. Hollis Investments, reveals photos of planes and a model of an F-8U1, a plane he worked on.

It’s clear for Hollis his dreams of flight and memories of the space race are still very much alive.