My 89-year-old dad was a pilot for 60 years. He wants to talk with other pilots.

T

texvanwinkle

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Aug 25, 2025
Messages
12
Display Name
Clint
Hi, all.

Want to make an old man happy?

I'm looking for a group of pilots—young and old, of a good mix of backgrounds (military very much included) and aircraft types—who'd enjoy being able to swap stories, shop talk, plane talk, anything aviation-related, with my dad on a regular basis.

You'd never know he's almost 90—he's sharp as a tack and routinely passes for 70-something—and despite logging his last flight in I believe 2018, still lives and breathes everything flying-related. To put it in perspective, Dad started flying lessons in 1958 in an Aeronca tail dragger with instructors who were former WWII pilots. (It should be no surprise that he's a WWII aviation buff.) He became a private pilot flying his family all around the country to visit relatives and friends while working in the radar division at Texas Instruments (he's an electrical engineer; much work with the FAA), then transitioning to testing T.I.'s LORAN unit over all 49 continental U.S. states.

Not surprisingly, he's got lots of stories and insights to share with people who can appreciate and respond to them with their own stories and insights, a.k.a. not the non-pilots and commercial passengers he's surrounded by in the small town in Maine where he's living with my sister. I think everyone here knows how hard it is to talk flying with people who've never been in the left seat, or only the aisle seat of a Boeing.

What I'd really love is to set up a regular Zoom call with enough people interested that he could always count on at least 2-3 other people on board. It would transform his world, frankly.

If you think you'd enjoy that and are interested, please let me know, either in a comment or private message.

Thanks for reading, and I really hope to hear from some of you.

Clint
 
Half Fast said:
Why not just have dad join this forum? I mean, he's a bit on the young side for some of our crowd, but he'd probably fit right in.
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Heh. I am going to suggest that to him, now that I've found it, but he really wants—needs, honestly—to be able to do the "face-to-face."

His grandkids have moved out and away on their own for the most part, and my sister's gone a lot, so he doesn't get a lot of face time with people. And Mainers' reputation for being hard to pry a conversation out of unless you grew up there is very earned. So I know he'd really enjoy being able to talk at least on the phone, but especially on a Zoom where it's more like a regular conversation.
 
Hello,
Your Dad qualifies for membership in our elite organization, UFO aka 'United Flying Octogenarians. Simply, if a pilot acts as PIC on or after the 80th Birthday he/she is a member for their duration. Please google us for further membership info/newsletter/gatherings/FB/zooms etc. Our oldest member is over 100 and we have about 2000 members in four countries.
I also went solo in an Aeronca in 1958. We will always be pilots! Best wishes to your Dad.
 
2 years senior to your dad, first formal lessons in J 3 cubs 1957, last PIC 2 years ago.

Have your dad pop in here, get to know some of us, and decide who he would like to reach out to on the phone.

I do not like Zoom get togethers, but that is me. Hearing ended my flying, so one on one phone is best.:)

Edited to add: PM me his phone number, and I will call him.
 
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texvanwinkle said:
Want to make an old man happy?
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Yes, but some of my recommendations might get me banned. Paging @eman1200 for assistance.

On a more serious note, besides the above recommendations, go to the EAA website and search for a local chapter.

Find an EAA Chapter | EAA

Find an EAA chapter near you and experience the thrill of aviation on a local level near you!
www.eaa.org www.eaa.org

They usually have a great group of local pilots that are always willing to share stories and take people up for a flight.
 
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Ralph Parmenter Bennett said:
Hello,
Your Dad qualifies for membership in our elite organization, UFO aka 'United Flying Octogenarians. Simply, if a pilot acts as PIC on or after the 80th Birthday he/she is a member for their duration. Please google us for further membership info/newsletter/gatherings/FB/zooms etc. Our oldest member is over 100 and we have about 2000 members in four countries.
I also went solo in an Aeronca in 1958. We will always be pilots! Best wishes to your Dad.
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That's great to know. Thanks for letting me know about it. I'll pass it along to him.
 
TCABM said:
Just an idea, but OP may want to consider a Wright Brothers Award.

Pilots - Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award - FAA - FAASTeam - FAASafety.gov

www.faasafety.gov
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It is a great idea, and in fact we found out about it earlier this year and he's trying to get that done. It's been a little tricky just because he needs other pilots who know him to vouch for him, and he's old enough that all but two of them have gone west. I do need to check in with him about the status of that, though. He was waiting for them to submit, I think, last I talked to him about it.
 
I walked into that one. As for the EAA, not only is that a great suggestion, it's already in motion. In researching where to post about this last night, I came across an EAA chapter just fifteen minutes from him, and the president of the chapter happens to live five minutes from him. Or, as Dad put it this morning when we talked about it, he could hit the guy's barn with his .22 rifle. Dad's going to introduce himself in the next few days. I'm really hoping that turns into something.

Just to point out how deep the Maine insularity runs, though, when Dad went to the local airport several years ago to renew his license (he was 82 then), the flight instructor introduced him to four other pilots who were there having a conversation, and after the introductions, with Dad standing there waiting for the instructor to get ready, the other four moved away to another corner of the room to continue the conversation. When I say if you're not born and raised in Maine, you'll always be a stranger, no matter what other part of the Venn diagram you might share with someone, it's not an exaggeration. His hairdresser confirmed it for him early on. After living in Kansas, Texas, Ohio, and even New Jersey without running into that kind of thing, it's both baffling and vexing for him, especially after being there for thirteen years now in the same small town. I've witnessed it myself. It's a thing to behold.
 
geezer said:
2 years senior to your dad, first formal lessons in J 3 cubs 1957, last PIC 2 years ago.

Have your dad pop in here, get to know some of us, and decide who he would like to reach out to on the phone.

I do not like Zoom get togethers, but that is me. Hearing ended my flying, so one on one phone is best.:)

Edited to add: PM me his phone number, and I will call him.
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Thanks so much for this. I do get the hearing issue, as does Dad: he watches most of his movies and videos at his computer because he needs his headphones to be able to hear it all well enough. That's the only way he's able to do our own weekly Zoom call with me and a couple of my friends and a nephew/grandson.

I am going to suggest this forum. I think he equates them with Facebook, X, etc., which he doesn't care for. I think he could get more what he's looking for here, but I know—because he coincidentally told me again just this morning—that what he's really missing is actual socializing where he can see people's faces, hear the inflection in a voice—the personal part of communication. He frequently asks his grandkids to call him, not text him. He wants to hear their voices. So a Zoom or, yes, even a phone call would definitely be more up his alley.

I'm going to pass along your offer today. I haven't told him I've done this—I was going to surprise him with it when I got a few participants for him—but I think he'd like to connect with someone sooner rather than later.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks again.

Clint
 
geezer said:
2 years senior to your dad, first formal lessons in J 3 cubs 1957, last PIC 2 years ago.

Have your dad pop in here, get to know some of us, and decide who he would like to reach out to on the phone.

I do not like Zoom get togethers, but that is me. Hearing ended my flying, so one on one phone is best.:)

Edited to add: PM me his phone number, and I will call him.
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Update: Dad's joining right now. He's going to catch up on everything.
 
Just curious where in Maine ? I am a native flatlanda as the call them in the great state of Maine, but my Maine roots run deep.
 
Dave Theisen said:
I liked your post, what more do you want? :)
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Would “stop making fun of my paint job” be too much to ask?

giphy.gif
 
Kitch said:
Just curious where in Maine ? I am a native flatlanda as the call them in the great state of Maine, but my Maine roots run deep.
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Dad's a native flatlanda as well, hailing from SE Kansas originally, but spent his middle 50 years in Texas. He's been in Maine with my sister, though, in St. Albans, since 2013. And apparently is still a foreigner as far as most of the natives around there are concerned.
 
geezer said:
2 years senior to your dad, first formal lessons in J 3 cubs 1957, last PIC 2 years ago.

Have your dad pop in here, get to know some of us, and decide who he would like to reach out to on the phone.

I do not like Zoom get togethers, but that is me. Hearing ended my flying, so one on one phone is best.:)

Edited to add: PM me his phone number, and I will call him.
Click to expand...
Dad is now registered here, but unfortunately this forum software won't let newbies direct message for some undetermined period of time. So if you can direct message Dad at Texinmaine and maybe pass along your e-mail address and phone number, he said he'd love to connect with you. Thank ya, sir! - Clint
 
texvanwinkle said:
Dad's a native flatlanda as well, hailing from SE Kansas originally, but spent his middle 50 years in Texas. He's been in Maine with my sister, though, in St. Albans, since 2013. And apparently is still a foreigner as far as most of the natives around there are concerned.
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LOL he will never be accepted into the secret society of mainahs then. Whenever I'm up there I lay on the boston accent extra heavy just to get under their skin.

I’m out of town for a couple of weeks, but after I get back to town and get my feet under me may be able to schedule a time to fly up to Dexter or Pittsfield to meet up with him for a few hours.
 
texvanwinkle said:
Dad is now registered here, but unfortunately this forum software won't let newbies direct message for some undetermined period of time. So if you can direct message Dad at Texinmaine and maybe pass along your e-mail address and phone number, he said he'd love to connect with you. Thank ya, sir! - Clint
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Direct messages usually require a certain number of public posts. One of the MC can probably shine some light on this. [mention]Jim K [/mention] or [mention]flyingron [/mention] may be of help.
 
Depending on weather I plan to head north from Boston for a few ski weekends this winter. I am good with taking him out for dinner/drinks and listen about airplanes.

Tim
 
Kitch said:
LOL he will never be accepted into the secret society of mainahs then. Whenever I'm up there I lay on the boston accent extra heavy just to get under their skin.

I’m out of town for a couple of weeks, but after I get back to town and get my feet under me may be able to schedule a time to fly up to Dexter or Pittsfield to meet up with him for a few hours.
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Heh. I'm sure they love that. And that would be great. In a crazy coincidence, he's actually having coffee probably this weekend with a pilot here on PoA who lives in Dexter, which is just 20 min from Dad. Maybe you can join them, or they can join you!
 
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