I had the pleasure of first meeting Neil Armstrong in the Summer of 1998, during a golf outing at the NCR Country Club in Dayton. What started as small talk, grew to more than 14 years of conversation and emails - mostly about aviation.

Neil Armstrong was clearly a historical figure, but one that looked ahead and seldom back. Ask him a question about his Gemini or Apollo days and you would get (at best) a short, but clearly well thought out reply. Ask a question about aviation and your reply would be much more involved and would certainly last longer than 60 seconds.

His favorite air show was the Dubai Air Show, where many advancements in private and commercial aviation would be highlighted. He was always asking questions, learning at every moment as he would stroll past aircraft new and old. For a man who was reserved when it came to public appearances, when the subject of aviation rolled around Neil Armstrong’s passion was clearly evident.

Many times I would tap his incredible aviation knowledge for my on-air reports, which was quite ironic given his dedicated effort to avoid radio interviews. I recall asking about the Hudson River landing of the US Airways flight in 2009 and in his usual brevity he replied, “Certainly uncommon, but I did not see any miraculous about it. The passengers didn’t even seem to be shook up.”

We lost a local legend this weekend and while most of the world will reflect on a man known for space exploration, my thoughts will be on his love for aviation and his forward vision. Perhaps that’s a lesson we can all learn from the first man on the moon, avoid looking back and look ahead with wonder at what marvels the future holds.