Neil Armstrong, Glider Pilot, Dies at 82

There are 10 or so 1960's era mentions of Neil in Soaring.

Go to http://ssa.org/magazine/archive and search for "Neil Armstrong" (rather than just "Armstrong" as you will get some 1930's hits).

Does anyone know when Armstrong got his glider rating? The FAA airman registry doesn't say.

I'm just now puzzling out how my father (Bill Minar) knew Neil Armstrong. Family memory is fuzzy, but I swear my mother told me my dad and Armstrong trained in gliders together. It seems a bit unlikely though. My dad's glider license is from 1964. I'd think Armstrong long had his glider rating by then but was too busy at NASA to be teaching.

We have our father's glider license in a box along with some press photos from the moon landing and a personal letter from Neil Armstrong ("glad to return the licenses with signature as you requested.") My guess is my dad knew him socially and asked for some memorabilia. Sadly it's very poorly preserved.

I wish I were still in Houston, I'd try to track down pilots who were flying in the 60s and 70s. I think there's a QB connection too.

--nelson at monkey.org

On Thursday, September 6, 2012 2:53:15 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Does anyone know when Armstrong got his glider rating? The FAA airman registry doesn't say. I'm just now puzzling out how my father (Bill Minar) knew Neil Armstrong. Family memory is fuzzy, but I swear my mother told me my dad and Armstrong trained in gliders together. It seems a bit unlikely though. My dad's glider license is from 1964. I'd think Armstrong long had his glider rating by then but was too busy at NASA to be teaching. We have our father's glider license in a box along with some press photos from the moon landing and a personal letter from Neil Armstrong ("glad to return the licenses with signature as you requested.") My guess is my dad knew him socially and asked for some memorabilia. Sadly it's very poorly preserved. I wish I were still in Houston, I'd try to track down pilots who were flying in the 60s and 70s. I think there's a QB connection too. --nelson at monkey.org

according to SSA website he got silver and gold and one diamond in 1964 and another diamond in 1965. Your hypothesis seems likely.