Did You Know This About Neil Armstrong?
Peter Robinson ·
August 27, 2012 at 6:33pm
Reading the obits, I found myself struck by one fact--of which, I confess, I'd been completely unaware: As a naval aviator during the Korean War, Neil Armstrong flew seventy-eight combat missions.
During one mission, his plane, flying low, clipped a cable that the North Koreans had strung across a valley as a kind of booby trap, forcing Armstrong to bail out. He narrowly missed landing in Wonson Habor, which the North Koreans were then mining, drifting instead toward a U.S. Marine base, the wind very likely saving his life.
Seventy-eight missions. He may have been unassuming, the very model of the quiet and fastidious engineer. But Neil Armstrong was also one tough hombre.
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May '10
Re: Did You Know This About Neil Armstrong?
Astonishing
These were fellows who consistently made therightsplit-second decision, one right after another after another, without adequate information.
Speaking of which, there is an interesting footnote to the Apollo 11 story involving guidance engineers Steve Bales and Jack Garman. As Armstrong piloted the lunar module on its landing approach, the guidance computer flashed a couple of alarms, which could have resulted in an abort of the landing.
Read here.
Mar '11
Re: Did You Know This About Neil Armstrong?
Buzz Aldrin said Armstrong was the best pilot he ever saw. Yeager said flat out that he wasn't a very good pilot at all. When you grew up as an airplane freak, it was a little disconcerting to see your heroes ripping each other. To this day, Yeager insists Armstrong was ... well, I'll let him tell you:
"Well, Neil was a pretty good engineer. He wasn't too good an airplane driver."
One thing you have to know about Yeager, he was pretty unforgiving of failure.
May '10
Re: Did You Know This About Neil Armstrong?
Douglas, I've read elsewhere about the rivalry between "flyboy" pilots and "engineer" pilots. Here's what wikipedia says about it:
Might be one of those "narcissism of small differences" things.
Nov '11
Re: Did You Know This About Neil Armstrong?
Perfect! A phenomenon that probably explains most of the heated disputes here on Ricochet as well.
Apr '11
Re: Did You Know This About Neil Armstrong?
I don't know if anyone has posted this yet but here's a nice 360 panorama of what Neil saw standing on the moon.
Edited on August 28, 2012 at 2:32amNov '11
Re: Did You Know This About Neil Armstrong?
Although its been stated in all the obituaries and eulogies, it still bears repeating again: Neil Armstrong is a true hero and the world is a much better place because of him. How fortunate for America and humanity that he was the one to take that historic step. Such grace, humility, and balls.
Jul '11
Re: Did You Know This About Neil Armstrong?
There's a great video of Armstrong ejecting just a second or two before his test lander crashes and explodes during a training run.
I'm assuming it's true about instinct that becomes honed after hundreds of hours of piloting - even piloting experimental lunar landers. Push it just far enough to try to rescue the vehicle, but once the chips are cashed - ditch it.
http://lucky760.videosift.com/video/Neil-Armstrong-Ejects-From-Lunar-Lander-Testflight
Re: Did You Know This About Neil Armstrong?
You're at the outer edges of the Ricochet code of conduct here, but you know what? Every word is just.
May '10
Re: Did You Know This About Neil Armstrong?
jt: I don't know if anyone has posted this yet but here's a nice 360 panorama of what Neil saw standing on the moon. · 4 hours ago
Edited 4 hours ago
That is breathtaking. Puts me on the moon better than any other media I've run across.
Aug '10
Re: Did You Know This About Neil Armstrong?
Wow.
For some reason, I thought there would be hills in the distance.
Maybe it's because my understanding of the moon's landscape comes from 2001 and MOON.
Aug '12
Re: Did You Know This About Neil Armstrong?
He was, in a word, an aviator.
Sep '10
Re: Did You Know This About Neil Armstrong?
In his autobiography, Yeager tells a great one on Armstrong that illustrates the difference. NACA (NASA Civilian Pilots) wanted to send Armstrong out to the lakebeds in the high desert to test the surface for a X15 flight the next day. Yeager said no need the lakebed was wet. Yeager had been landing on those lake beds for 10 years. NACA insisted, and Yeager went along in the backseat. So, just before sundown that day they're setting in the mud in a T33 with the engine at full throttle, Yeager says, "Neil, you can turn off the sumbitch, it ain't doin' nuthin' for you" (Yeager, pg 182). It gets mighty cold up there at night. "Yeager" is a must read for all Ricochetti!
May '10
Re: Did You Know This About Neil Armstrong?
Misthiocracy
Wow.
For some reason, I thought there would be hills in the distance.
Maybe it's because my understanding of the moon's landscape comes from 2001 and MOON. · 2 hours ago
Apollo 11 landed in the Sea of Tranquility, which is relatively like Nebraska in elevation. You might find the landing sites of Apollo 15, 16, and 17 to be more in line with your expectations.
Sep '10
Re: Did You Know This About Neil Armstrong?
Joseph Stanko
That reminds me of a documentary I saw that pointed out that the Apollo program took place during the Vietnam War. One of the Apollo astronauts interviewed said he sometimes felt guilty that he got to fly in space while his old buddies were flying combat missions over Vietnam.
That was Gene Cernan, Apollo 17 commander, interviewed in the (very good) documentary In the Shadow of the Moon.
Apr '11
Re: Did You Know This About Neil Armstrong?
MichaelC19fan
Williams was John Glenn's wingman during Korea in theory but given Williams's WW II experience he was the flight leader.
I don't think that's right.
Glenn had WW II combat experience, and Williams did not, only flight experience. In one of his biographies Williams mentions attaching himself to Glenn as wingman because he was sure Glenn could teach him some things about combat.