Thursday, August 6th, 2020
Armstrong jet coming to museum
Astronaut set records in plane
By Tom Millhouse
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
The first Learjet 28 Longhorn, which Neil Armstrong flew to five Federation Aeronautique Internationale and National Aeronautic Association class records, flies over the Neil Armstrong Airport before landing on Wednesday in New Knoxville.
NEW KNOXVILLE - Many area residents celebrated what would have been Neil Armstrong's 90th birthday on Wednesday by witnessing the final flight of the plane in which the first man on the moon set world records.
A crowd estimated at 140 people gathered at the Neil Armstrong Airport as the Learjet 28 Longhorn, which earlier had made several passes over the Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, landed in New Knoxville. The plane is being added to the museum collection.
"It was an amazing day," Neil Armstrong Airport Manager Ted Bergstrom said, adding he and others had many hurdles to clear to bring the plane to Auglaize County. "To see it land today, it was very fulfilling for me and many others."
In 1979, Armstrong and co-pilot Pete Reynolds set five world records for time to climb to an altitude and altitude reached while flying the Learjet prototype.
Museum director Dante Centuori said the record-setting Learjet is a prized addition to the museum collection because it reflects an important part of Armstrong's career after leaving NASA.
"Everything just didn't end after Apollo 11," Centuori said. "He was very active, he was teaching at the University of Cincinnati and he was on the board of Learjet. It (the Learjet Longhorn) will be a nice anchor for that part of his career," he said. "We don't have as many artifacts (of his post-NASA career) as other parts of his life."
"We have the actual records (he set), and it's nice to have the plane that set those records," he added.
The plane will remain at the Neil Armstrong Airport until a permanent exhibit is readied at the museum. Funds will be raised to finance the display.
"It will be great to have the plane here for a year or so," Bergstrom said.
The plane will be moved to the new airport terminal when it is completed in the next four to six weeks, he noted.
The jet will be on display during regular business hours, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Bergstrom said he will accompany people who want to view it.
"We don't have a strict timetable," Centuori said in response to a question about when the plane will be transported by truck to the museum. "We're definitely going to fast track this, but we want to do it right."
The plane is being donated to the museum by Kevin Hayward, president and CEO of LR Services of Allentown, Pennsylvania.
The plane, which Centuori said hadn't been flown for six years, was piloted from Allentown to Ohio by retired Air Force Col. Gregory Johnson, who had been a space shuttle astronaut.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Former NASA astronaut Gregory Johnson, who co-piloted the Learjet 28 Longhorn on Wednesday, spoke about Armstrong during a ceremony at Neil Armstrong Airport in New Knoxville.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Spectators watch as the first Learjet 28 Longhorn, which Neil Armstrong flew to five Federation Aeronautique Internationale and National Aeronautic Association class records, arrives at Neil Armstrong Airport on Wednesday in New Knoxville.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
The first Learjet 28 Longhorn arrives at Neil Armstrong Airport on Wednesday in New Knoxville.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Tom Finkelmeier Jr. pours Champaign on the nose of the plane.
