Not a Space Shuttle Door Gunner but an actual pilot

So today I got to meet a childhood hero and I didn't realize it until after he had left.

We get a lot of retired gentlemen coming into our store with backgrounds in engineering, geology, the oil and mining industries and military, so I'm used to the type. Usually soft spoken, but comfortable with the outdoors and obviously highly educated and intelligent, but also down to earth and not elitist or too posh. I love talking to these old guys because they're a wealth of interesting stories and insights on how things used to be (and thus how things really work).

Today I helped a guy named Joe find some maps he wanted. He and his wife moved here to The Springs recently and he was wanting some maps of the areas to explore in the Pike National Forest.

So I pulled some USGS topos and some Trails Illustrated maps and eventually sold him on a Pikes Peak Atlas and pointed out some of the fun routes to drive and explore (he's in his 80s so I didn't try to sell him on the various 14er hiking maps we have, although I wouldn't be surprised if he was capable).

You could tell by a the way he talked and carried himself and some of the things he said that he was likely retired military so I made sure to ask him if he had a military ID because we offer a 10% discount for active duty & retired military (along with first responders). He commented that the pro military attitude was one of the things he loved about The Springs and I agreed. When I looked at his ID I recognized the name but couldn't place it so I went and looked him up after he left.

His name was Joe. Joe Engle.

Kick ass dude.

That is Awesome!! He's was an X-15 pilot to boot, way way cool!

There are people like me who fly a little prop plane bug smasher.

Then there are the quote/unquote "real pilots" who fly jets in all sorts of weather to get people and cargo to where they need to be in almost any situation (save for a few acts of god).

Then there are the Military, rescue and firefighting pilots, who push the envelope to the edge of known parameters to better the safety or our nation, neighborhoods, forests, etc.

Then there are pilots like Joe Engle. Who face even greater risks, even worse odds, just to further our knowledge of the aerospace envelope, and push it beyond where it has ever been before. His successes might not have had as big of direct impact as those just above, but they certainly allowed those pilots to do what they do!

God bless him.

Did you get chills when you opened his wiki page and realized who he was? I just did. Awesome experience

Oh, WOW! That's awesome. I got chills. :)

pretty cool.
I got to meet scott carpenter in college.

That's freakin' awesome!

That's a cool experience.

Wow. That's way cool.

Neato

Awesome story.

I used to get to refuel the fleet of a little guy named Frank Borman down at an FBO in Las Cruces. Included a P51, P63, T6 and fully restored Zero. But the princess of his fleet was the F86. Used to always ask him for a flyby with a wave for me and he always provided.

Awesome!

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Originally Posted by DFBrews

Did you get chills when you opened his wiki page and realized who he was? I just did. Awesome experience

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Yes ... and then this wave of regret that I just spent 20 minutes boring this guy about my knowledge of the local cartography when I could have been asking him all sorts of questions about the greatest days of the space program.

Of course I think he's happier to have the information I gave him :p

He did recommend a restaurant (well bar) that I'm going to have to check out; The Bucksnort Saloon (out in the woods near Pine).

Grab a burger at the Bucksnort and let me know how it is. Probably the best burger I've ever had, though it was 10+ years ago.
Oh, and cool story

Very cool. That doesn't happen every day.

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Originally Posted by jslo

Grab a burger at the Bucksnort and let me know how it is. Probably the best burger I've ever had, though it was 10+ years ago.
Oh, and cool story

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+1. Bad ass brush with greatness too.

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Originally Posted by Zundfolge

He did recommend a restaurant (well bar) that I'm going to have to check out; The Bucksnort Saloon (out in the woods near Pine).

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Cool little joint.

Just goes to show you never know who you might be talking to.
Great experience.

Awesome story. Some friends of mine lived down the street from Bruce McCandless (retired Austronaut from the Shuttle era) in Conifer. And I have many friends/family who knew Jeff Ashby (he and I graduated from the same High School- albeit 30-some years apart).

Awesome!
I remember the X-15. When I was growing up in SoCal, next to LAX, there was a aircraft manufacturer called North American Aviation with a big neon sign that said "Home of the X-15".

If he comes into your store again, please ask for a recorded interview. There are surely some Scouts or other kids who would greatly benefit from the experience.

He's actually given a few interviews and lectures. Here's one I stumbled across on YouTube (and there's others).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey0TQXOYGEY

Yep, Engle is the real deal.

I got to meet Gen Engle and others this summer at Space Fest in Tucson. He is an amazing -- and amazingly humble -- man. I hadn't realized he'd moved to the Springs.

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Originally Posted by Ronin13

Awesome story. Some friends of mine lived down the street from Bruce McCandless (retired Austronaut from the Shuttle era) in Conifer. And I have many friends/family who knew Jeff Ashby (he and I graduated from the same High School- albeit 30-some years apart).

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NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless, the first person to fly freely and untethered in space, has died. He was 80. - ABC News

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Sorry for the thread jack. But McCandless, like Engle, was another guy with the right stuff. Our lives are much better because of people like these two men.

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Originally Posted by wctriumph

Awesome!
I remember the X-15. When I was growing up in SoCal, next to LAX, there was a aircraft manufacturer called North American Aviation with a big neon sign that said "Home of the X-15".

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Growing up in SoCal, sonic booms were a way of life. We just assumed they happened everywhere, and always had.

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Originally Posted by Alpha2

Growing up in SoCal, sonic booms were a way of life. We just assumed they happened everywhere, and always had.

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LAX on one side and not so far away was Hughes Aircraft and there were always F4 Phantoms flying out of there and yes, sonic booms were just always a part of life, you could hear them several times a week. The wop wop wop of Huey helicopters was a sound we always heard too. High up in the sky were the contrails of the B52 bombers heading north and west. Yes, I'm that old.

I've never in my life heard a sonic boom, but would really like to.

I grew up in SoCal in the early '70s (and have the lungs to prove it...SMOG ALERT!!!). We were also able to see Nixon going to his home in San Clemente, rocket launches from Vandenberg and the Blue Angels practicing.

'twas interesting times for aviation and the space race.