American Hero, RIP

[Bushwacker]

American Hero RIP



Didn't want to derail Strick's thread, but he was right to pay tribute to Neil Armstrong! He was one amazingly brilliant but quiet and humble guy that deserves a lot more homage than he ever got. Many fighter pilots and experimental flight test pilots have enormous egos, but here was a guy that, although one of the best pilots of all time, went out of his way to AVOID attention at all costs! Saw a recent show commemorating the Apollo program and first moon landing; all the Apollo astronauts said that Neil was, by far, the coolest guy under pressure of any of them. His calm, low key manner was exemplified by the following incident:

One day he was practicing lunar landings with the "Flying Bedstead", a contraption that resembled a tubular bed frame with a jet engine on it, that was used to simulate landings. The control system went haywire and it pitched over almost 90 degrees before he punched out at the last possible moment, coming down nearly on top of the burning wreckage! After that event, most guys, after changing underwear, would have headed for the nearest bar to celebrate their survival! Neil simply changed out of his flight suit and went into the office to continue working! A fellow astronaut in the next office stopped by and said "Neil, did I hear right, that you just survived a crash of the "Bedstead"?! Neil's only comment . . . "Yes."!

For those that are interested, here's a rare public address he gave to a group of his fellow test pilots a few years ago: http://www.setp.org/setp-news/neil-a...n-address.html It's a little over 20 minutes long but it gives you a real sense of the unique personality and character of this talented but humble hero! (drag the cursor to 2:45 to bypass the introductory BS!)

If only our politicians of today could model their behavior after this humble man of few words and MUCH action, maybe this country could get back to accomplishing the sort of stuff it did back in the late 50's & 60's! Denny