AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2020 - 35

memories of lying on the hood of the
car beneath the final approach at Miami
International Airport to watch the airplanes landing. I quickly learned that
you don't need to spend a dime to have
a great time.
One of the fringe benefits of being
an airline employee was being able to fly
at very low cost, nearly free. Each summer we would take a Lockheed Electra or
Constellation and travel someplace new. I
would always fight my younger sister for
the window seat and stay glued to it from
takeoff to landing. When Eastern changed
from propellers to jets, Dad transferred
into Eastern's safety department.
One weekend Dad took me for a tour of
Eastern's new jet simulator. Even though I
wasn't old enough to drive a car, they let me
sit in the co-pilot seat and fly. Nobody complained when I crashed. Through the years
this mutual interest was one of the things
Dad and I shared that helped to keep us
close. I have had many interests and hobbies, but I never failed to look up as an
airplane passed overhead.
Soon it was my turn to get married and
start my own family, and the thoughts of
flying were grounded. There was the reality of a mortgage and my own daughters.
Dreams of being a pilot may have stopped
there had it not been for the personal computer. Now anybody could buy a flight
simulator program. I quickly earned my
electronic wings and I was beginning to
understand that smile in the old blackand-white photo. My understanding wife
noticed and allowed me to take real flight
lessons. She must have thought it was a
passing phase, one that I would outgrow.
But she saw my smile when I soloed, and
she knew I was hooked. It was a proud day
for me when I took Dad as my first passenger over the east coast of Florida.
As Dad approached his seventieth
birthday, I wondered what type of present
you can get for a man who accumulated
this many years. I wanted to give him
something meaningful and not something
that would just collect dust. As I drove

past my local flight school, there was my
answer: It was a beautiful red-and-white
Stearman, with a sign saying rides for sale.
I met with the owner and told him my plan
for Dad's surprise birthday ride. The plan
went off perfectly. Dad wore a leather helmet and goggles and was allowed to fly the
Stearman. When he landed, I saw the same
smile as in that photo from 50 years before.
But the years started to take their toll.
Even though I could detect a trace of forgetfulness, I denied Dad was growing old.
One day he came to visit and asked if I
could take him for a flight. It was a beautiful cloudless Florida winter day. After
landing he suggested we pose for a quick
snapshot in front of the Cessna. As I was
looking for a willing photographer, he
reached into his bag and pulled out an
imitation leather flight jacket and asked
me to wear it for the photo. As it put it on,
something shiny caught my eye. Above
the left pocket were his World War II silver wings. It was a happy/sad moment.
Without words he was telling me, "You've
made it and I'm proud of you, my son."
These wings are now my most cherished
possession. The photo of us that day is on
the wall, next to the photo of Dad, smiling
in the Stearman.
Dad became weaker and more forgetful. As anybody who has experienced this
can tell you, it's a very difficult time, and
memories of the better times helped to get
us through. One sad afternoon I sat with
Dad and told him of my love and respect
for him and I held his hand as he traveled
up to his next destination. Joe soloed with
new wings that day, the wings of an angel.
At his funeral I tightly held his silver wings as I gave the eulogy. When the
family and friends left the church, a yellowand-blue Stearman was circling overhead.
Many people asked if I had arranged this,
but I had nothing to do with it. But in my
heart, I knew who was flying-and smiling all the way.
KEVIN O'DONNELL is a private pilot living in

Florida.

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2020

Federal Aviation
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2020

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