Neil Armstrong and the X-15 by Bob van der Linden, Posted on Tue, July 23, 2019, Aeronautics Department, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum “Released from duty in mid-1952, Armstrong returned to Purdue where he earned his degree in aeronautical engineering in 1955. His love of flight and engineering drew him to the National Advisory
On my first solo flight, I tried to reach 50,000 feet altitude. My airspeed was dropping off due to the high angle of attack so I pushed the throttle up to full afterburner. I then experienced a huge explosion which blew both of my feet off the rudder pedals. It scared me to death, our instructors had never mentioned a compressor stall. I let go of the controls and the aircraft recovered after losing 15000 feet. When I got back to the briefing room my instructor asked me how my solo flight went I related the problem. He laughed his ass off and then explained what a compressor stall was.
After retiring from the USAF in 1987, I was hired by General Dynamics as a Product Support Regional Manager (F-16) in the Pacific Region (based in Hawaii). I was there until 1991. I then relocated to Singapore as a Corporate Marketing Director of F-16 sales in Southeast Asia.
From 1993-1996, I was Vice President of Lockheed Martin Corporation in Singapore. From 1996-2006 I was Vice President of Space Imaging at a Lockheed Martin subsidiary company based in Singapore and Bangkok Thailand.
From 2006 to the present, I’ve been working as a Consultant and Executive Vice President for Five Continents International.
