The symbol of the test-pilot school at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave desert, where Mr Armstrong spent years testing military jets, flying the X-15 at 4, 000mph to the very edge of the atmosphere, is a slide rule over a stylised aircraft.

ECONOMIST: Neil Armstrong

Today, he owns Boston's Lewis Wharf, which serves as the base for his privately held Pilot House entities.

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When it happened, I was a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and was in pilot training at a now-decommissioned base in Arizona.

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Herbert Mosier, who helps pilot the ORS-1 from Schriever Air Force Base, in El Paso County, Colo.

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After returning and graduating from Purdue, Neil applied to become a test pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics High-Speed Flight Station at Edwards Air Force Base.

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You may be able to persuade the pilot to drop you off at Dushanbe when he flies his return leg, which is to a Russian military base in Tajikistan where the plane is maintained.

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