Last night I met Neil Armstrong - now incl pictures

[Flying Lawyer]

Well said What Limits.

There are people it’s enjoyable to meet, people who are interesting to meet, and a very small number whom it’s an honour to meet. Only very rarely does someone fall into all three categories: Neil Armstrong is one of the few. Even to shake the hand of the first man to walk on the moon is truly an honour IMHO.

A privilege I won't forgetDave Singleton, Tudor Owen, Neil Armstrong

What a delightful, charming and unassuming man. A genuine celebrity in an age when so many nobodies are regarded, for reasons beyond my comprehension, as 'celebrities'.

............
Captain Dave Singleton & Tudor Owen with Neil Armstrong

The Guild of Air Pilots has numerous distinguished members who are ‘household names’ in different spheres of aviation but, even by those high standards, the presence of Neil Armstrong made the always magnificent Trophies and Awards Banquet even more special than usual.

ShyTorque says "I found it quite incredible that the man on the moon we schoolboys dreamed to emulate back in the 1960s was actually there, talking to us about it."

That sums up very well how I, and clearly everyone else, felt.
The respect and awe in which Neil Armstrong is held was obvious not only from the enthusiasm of the longest standing ovation of the evening but throughout the entire event.

_

Neil Armstrong and Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown both received the Guild Award of Honour – awarded on rare occasions "to individuals who have made an outstanding lifetime contribution to aviation."

Lord Stevens, Eric 'Winkle' Brown, Capt Jock Lowe (this year's Master of the Guild)

I felt a little sorry for ‘Winkle’ Brown. In normal circumstances, one of the few remaining aviation legends who was regarded by many as the ‘best of the best’ in an era of outstanding test pilots, and who contributed so much to the development of British Naval aviation, would have been the star attraction. But, even his outstanding achievements couldn’t compete with the everyone’s obvious excitement at the presence of the first man to walk on the moon.

‘Where else could you meet these type of people but at the GAPAN Trophies and Awards Banquet?'

What limits sums it up perfectly.
So many aviation legends in the same place at the same time?
And the opportunity to chat with them?
Probably nowhere else in the world.


Link: Guild of Air Pilots

All pictures copyright Gerald Sharp Photography.