United States. Pete Conrad, the future Apollo 12, made his first solo flight on August 22, 1947, at just 17 years old. He was taught to fly by Margaret Lowell, a young World War II pilot (a P-51 Mustang pilot), who had to repay Pete for helping him repair her plane’s engine. Pete’s father, Charles, was also an aviator in the army and took part in the bombing raids on German territory, carried out from combat balloons. When “Pete” was born, Charles wanted to call him Charles Jr., but his wife Frances opposed it. His father won the civil registry, but everyone would call their son Pete for the rest of his life. As a child, he suffered from ADHD or perhaps dyslexia (at the time diagnosed as “stupidity”), which caused him to struggle at school, leading him to focus on his true passion: airplanes.
