The teenager who flew before he drove

Neil Armstrong learned to control an aeroplane before he could legally drive a car.

Fascinated by flight from childhood, he paid for lessons with money earned from part-time jobs.

He received his student pilot certificate on his sixteenth birthday.

His driving licence came later, long before that teenage pilot guided the first crewed landing on the Moon.

The detail changes the usual picture of Neil Armstrong. A famous life can look inevitable from a distance, but close up it is built from experiments, accidents and small decisions.

Large journeys often begin with one small opportunity noticed at the right moment.