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Armstrong Interview on 60 Minutes (Page 2)

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Author	Topic: Armstrong Interview on 60 Minutes
Scott Member Posts: 3307 From: Houston, TX Registered: May 2001	posted 11-12-2005 04:38 PM I can't even imagine what it must be like to lose a child, especially a young one, in such a tragic way.
Michael Davis Member Posts: 528 From: Houston, Texas Registered: Aug 2002	posted 11-12-2005 04:38 PM I'm a medical physicist. We are specialists in using radiation to treat cancer. I was particularly moved by this portion of Armstrong's story. In those days only low energy x-ray and Cobalt-60 machines were available for treatments. And tumor targeting was not great. It must have been extremely difficult to deal with the therapy of his child and continue to fly. I also found the speculation about the effects of this personal tragedy on his "accidents" at Edwards to be fascinating. Frankly, it put Yeager and his stories of Armstrong's flying ability in a whole new light. Not a favorable light at that.
collshubby Member Posts: 591 From: Madisonville, Louisiana Registered: Nov 1999	posted 11-12-2005 08:10 PM quote: I also found the speculation about the effects of this personal tragedy on his "accidents" at Edwards to be fascinating. I missed that part. Are you refering to something on 60 Minutes or in First Man? quote: Frankly, it put Yeager and his stories of Armstrong's flying ability in a whole new light. Not a favorable light at that.[/B] Not favorable on Yeager or Armstrong? ------------------ "The best leaders inspire by example. When that is not an option, brute intimidation works pretty well, too." - Anonymous
Michael Davis Member Posts: 528 From: Houston, Texas Registered: Aug 2002	posted 11-13-2005 06:22 AM collshubby, Apologies for my lack of clarity. The few incidents in Armstrong's flying record are detailed in Hansen's bio. Most of them seem to have occured shortly after his daughter's death. The unfavorable light I'm refering too is on Yeager. He has made a few very critical statments about Armstrong's flying ability. Hansen's book of course also covers the entire Gemini VIII emergency in detail. There most of the negative comments regarding Armstrong came from fellow astronauts. However, I do beleive that Yeager, in one of his autobiographies, essentially said that Dave Scott had to take over at the time of Gemini VIII to save the crew. Not true of course.
capoetc Member Posts: 2169 From: McKinney TX (USA) Registered: Aug 2005	posted 11-13-2005 09:31 AM I'd like to preface my statement by saying that I am not a Yeager defender or whatever other title you might like to make up. I do think it is only fair to relate what the man said in his book. The following is directly from the autobiography "Yeager" (p. 181-182): "Neil Armstrong may have been the first astronaut on the moon, but he was the last guy at Edwards to take any advice from a military pilot. ... Bickel called me to say that NACA was scheduling an X-15 flight and planning to use Smith's Ranch Lake as an emergency landing site. ... he respected my judgment about the condition of the lakebeds because he knew I'd ben flying them since 1945 and knew them like the back of my hand. ... I told him I had flown over it recently and it was soaked from the winter rains. He said, 'Well, my pilots were over there today and they said it's not wet.' ... "I tried to talk Armstrong out of going at all. 'Honestly, Neil, that lakebed is in no shape to take the weight of a T-33,' ... But Neil wouldn't be budged. He said, 'Well, we won't land. I'll just test the surface by shooting a touch-and-go' ... I told him he was crazy. 'You're carrying a passenger and a lot of fuel, and that airplane isn't over-powered, anyway. The moment you touch down on that soggy lakebed, we'll be up to our asses in mud." The bottom line for me is, Yeager was not saying that Armstrong was an unskilled pilot. He said that he was a civilian pilot who was not willing to take the advice of a guy who had been flying at Edwards for a long time -- it's a humorous anecdote. As for the GT-8 description, you are correct -- There is a one-sentence description in the book that basically says Armstrong was a lump of coal in the seat and Dave Scott saved both their lives ... obviously untrue. ------------------ John Capobianco Camden DE
Michael Davis Member Posts: 528 From: Houston, Texas Registered: Aug 2002	posted 11-13-2005 09:58 AM John, You are of course correct in your reference to Yeager's comments in his book. However the Hansen biography adds some details that Yeager seems to have ommitted. For instance, the touch and go attempt where Armstrong's T-33 got stuck was actualy the second of the day on the lake bed. Plus, according to Armstrong, Yeager never voiced the opinion that they should not land. And Hansen indicates that Yeager himself suggested the second landing. I think my point is that I'm glad that Armstrong's version is now in the record. I think due to his reluctance to self-promote, there has been only one primary version of his flying experience at Edwards to be taken into account. I would like to see him share even more.
Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999	posted 11-13-2005 10:01 AM quote: Originally posted by capoetc: it's a humorous anecdote. It may be humorous, but is it true? According to Armstrong, it isn't; from "First Man", page 186: quote: At no time on the way up to the Nevada site, according to Armstrong, did Yeager ever try to talk him out of trying to land. The touch-and-go took place with absolutely no trouble. Neil landed, ran the wheels over the surface, added power, and took off. The problem for Armstrong came next, when Yeager told him, "Let's go back and try it again, and slow down a little more. The full account of Yeager's flight with Armstrong covers six pages in "First Man", too much to reprint here (without permission from the publisher, at least) however, the impression I got from reading it is that Yeager, perhaps recognizing that Armstrong did not have the habit to publicly speak out against what he saw as untruths, took some liberty with the account all in the name of a good anecdote (which, when read alone in Yeager's book, is humorous). [On review, what Michael said; he and I must have been writing at the same time.] [This message has been edited by Robert Pearlman (edited November 13, 2005).]
capoetc Member Posts: 2169 From: McKinney TX (USA) Registered: Aug 2005	posted 11-13-2005 07:00 PM I just flipped to that page in "First Man" to check out the reference (I'm only up to page 100 so far). Sounds to me like Yeager was trying to convince Armstrong to get stuck ... which in itself is pretty humorous. In fact, it's a shame Yeager didn't tell it that way in his book because it's a funnier story. Ultimately, the guy in the front seat (Armstrong) was the aircraft commander and responsible for the decision to land or not. Yeager told him the airplane would sink, Armstrong wanted to go anyway. Yeager said, "Why don't you try it again" after the first touch-and-go, to which Armstrong could have said, "Nah, I'm in command of this jet and I don't think it's safe -- let's go back," but instead he went ahead and landed. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Yeager wanted the jet to get stuck. Yeager set him up -- and Armstrong fell for it. That doesn't make him a bad pilot (all evidence being decidedly in the contrary) -- but it is still a funny story! ------------------ John Capobianco Camden DE

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