Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, near Wapakoneta, Ohio to Stephen Koenig (König) Armstrong and Viola Louise née Engel. He was of German, Scottish, and Scots-Irish ancestry, and had a younger sister, June, and a younger brother, Dean. His father worked as an auditor for the Ohio state government,and the family moved around the state repeatedly, living in sixteen towns over the next fourteen years. Armstrong's love for flying grew during this time, having started early when his father took his two-year-old son to the Cleveland Air Races. When he was five or six, he experienced his first airplane flight in Warren, Ohio when he and his father took a ride in a Ford Trimotor, also known as the "Tin Goose".