Robert Cloos was one lesson away from getting his pilot’s license when his instructor had a heart attack.
After decades of wishing he’d gotten that license, Cloos — now 73 — got to fly a plane anyway last Thursday, when he took the controls of a 1942 Boeing Stearman during a special afternoon with fellow veterans and residents of Marquis Forest Grove Assisted Living.
Hosted by Ageless Aviation Dreams Foundation, a nonprofit that honors U.S. veterans living in long-term care facilities, the eight Forest Grove men and one woman were each treated to a half-hour flight on an open-air, two-seater plane 1,000 feet above the Willamette Valley.
“That was so much fun,” said Ray Lindsey, the only veteran who still lives in his own home. “I would have liked it to be an hour longer. I never saw such a beautiful valley. I was in awe looking at all the nurseries.”
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