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Author
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Topic: Neil Armstrong and test pilot school
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Delta7
Member Posts: 1505
From: Bluffton IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 07-21-2009 08:14 PM
   
Looking at Armstrong's official biographies, I recently noticed that there is no mention of him ever having graduated from an official Test Pilot School (like the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB or the Navy's program at Patuxent River). Does anyone know if he in fact did attend one of these schools, or simply began his career as a research pilot with NACA based on his naval flying experience and aeronautical engineering degree? If the latter is true, it seems kind of unusual given the fact that most of his contemporaries did attend one of these schools. |
alanh_7
Member Posts: 1252
From: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 07-22-2009 08:58 AM
To my knowledge, Neil Armstrong never attended any of the military flight research schools. He applied to NACA for a flight test position at Edwards following graduation from Purdue. With no jobs available at Edwards, Armstrong was hired by NACA at the Lewis Flight Propulsion Lab near Cleveland before transferring to Edwards, where he flew research flights in various NACA aircraft and also performed duties as chase pilot and co-pilot flying the B29. The biography 'First Man' by James Hansen goes into Armstrong’s early flight test career in depth. |
Michael Cassutt
Member Posts: 358
From: Studio City CA USA
Registered: Mar 2005
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posted 07-23-2009 06:12 PM
Armstrong did not attend a military test pilot school. He was certified as a test pilot by a civilian organization -- N.A.C.A./NASA -- just as Elliot See was certified by GE. That sort of qualification was sufficient to be eligible for the 1962 astronaut selection. |
Delta7
Member Posts: 1505
From: Bluffton IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 07-23-2009 10:04 PM
I guess my real question is whether Armstrong (or See) had any kind of formal test pilot training, or were they simply certified as such at some point based on their experience as a pilot and engineer? |
Michael Cassutt
Member Posts: 358
From: Studio City CA USA
Registered: Mar 2005
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posted 07-27-2009 04:44 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Delta7:
I guess my real question is whether Armstrong (or See) had any kind of formal test pilot training, or were they simply certified as such at some point based on their experience as a pilot and engineer?
None that I know of. NACA used a mentor-apprentice system, with a senior test pilot leading a newbie through a few months of guided on-the-job training. I assume GE did the same, since this was the USAF (Army Air Corps) system prior to the creation of a formal test pilot school -- and also the Soviet military test pilot training method... Titov was mentored by Ilyushin in 1967, for example. |
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