Flying a Pilatus PC12 TO THE MOON: Neil Armstrong | Ohio | Sporty’s | Flight Outfitters

We continue our flying adventure in Ohio, this time jumping in John’s Pilatus PC12. Our eventual destination is Neil Armstrong’s hometown, Wapakoneta Ohio. There they have a cool museum celebrating his life, aviation career, journey through the Navy and NASA, and of course documenting a fair bit of his being the First Man on the Moon.

John takes us for the ride in his family Pilatus PC12. This is a very capable machine, with not only fantastic IFR and corporate flying type capabilities, but also off airport. I’m not sure John really uses his for STOL, but it still has that sort of capability. It’s just a really nice airplane.

Our first leg would be over to Columbus, Indiana where we’d have a quick lunch. I’d fly the first leg and get to see the amazing Garmin avionics, which is a retrofit in this aircraft.

From there my friend Cameron jumped in the right seat and enjoyed nerding it out with John up front. Cameron is a good friend of mine you may have remembered from our flight where we got to see the Falcon Heavy Launch: https://youtu.be/AuTAu5VmtFw

Now we land in Wapakoneta, Ohio where Neil Armstrong was born. As we pull up on the ramp, we learn that Neil used to park in this very spot as he came and went from the airport in his airplane. How cool!

Now we go to the Neil Armstrong Museum, where his life is celebrated. Of course the main focal point is the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. There are many stories in between on how that was accomplished. Basically, he’s a stud. He was also part of the Gemini mission with NASA, was a Navy pilot, and before that a private pilot.

On the way back, we reminisced, had some funny moments, and I even got to fly the Pilatus PC12. What a machine! All the avionics, coupled with some of the best flight engineering int he world just makes for one awesome machine. Really, when I’m wealthy I could see myself loving this plane! So cool!

Huge, huge thanks to Sporty’s and Flight Outfitters for being so generous on this trip. Really enjoyed spending time with both of the companies, and count them among my friends.

You can find Sporty’s at: https://ift.tt/2K97kH3
Flight Outfitters at: https://ift.tt/3coW5Gq

More flight training resources at https://ift.tt/35kuums

Chris Palmer

Chief Flight Instructor and President of Angle of Attack. Founded in 2006.

AUTHOR

Chris Palmer

Chief Flight Instructor and President of Angle of Attack. Founded in 2006.