Neil Armstrong, who passed away on Saturday, will be remembered most of all for his career as an astronaut and his history-making walk on the Moon in 1969.

But his career began long before then: By the time he took the "giant leap for mankind," Armstrong had been flying for two decades.

As a test pilot with the Navy and later NASA, he piloted more than 200 kinds of aircraft, among them the most advanced jets American engineers could roll out.

In these 10 aircraft, from the odd Paresev glider to the experimental X-15 rocket to the famed Apollo Lunar Module, Armstrong pushed the limits of altitude and speed reached by humans.