Two years before his first spaceflight, and five years before he set the
first human foot on the moon, Armstrong fills out a flight plan, preparing to
pilot a NASA jet from Ohio to Texas.
Document signed twice:
"N. A. Armstrong", 1 page, 8x12¾.
Port Columbus, Naval Air Station [Ohio],
1964 June 25. Department
of Defense flight aircraft clearance form. Details filled in by another hand,
including mileage, transponder code, and equipment, but
Armstrong has penned
this notation: "Request radar vector climb on course." Armstrong
plans to pilot a T-33 ("Shooting Star") aircraft from Port Columbus to Ellington
Air Force Base in Texas, by way of Dayton. The co-pilot is J. F. Stegall,
another NASA employee. Civilian
Neil Alden Armstrong (1930-2012) had
entered the U.S. space program as a senior NASA research pilot in 1962. A fan of
aviation from the age of nine, Armstrong had his pilot's license by the age of
16, and, after studying aeronautical engineering at Purdue for two years, went
to Pensacola, Florida for Navy flight training.
Serving in Korea at the age
of 21, Armstrong flew 78 combat missions and won three Air Medals.
