Seventy-three-year-old Dick Whelan couldn’t be happier traveling at more than 100 miles per hour with the wind rushing through his hair and crowds of people looking up at him.
“I fly the older airplanes, none of this electronic stuff,†the South Padre Island resident said. “It’s a mental and physical challenge.â€
Whelan, who is with the Commemorative Air Force Rio Grande Wing, will show off his skills this weekend at the Brownsville-South Padre Island International Airport at the 15th annual Air Fiesta. After gates open at 9 a.m. and throughout the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday, planes will soar and battles will be fought.
“All the money raised in Brownsville stays right here to help keep our airplanes flying,†organizer David Hughston, 53, said. “Any airplane is expensive to own and operate, but old airplanes especially so. There’s something a whole lot more special about flying airplanes than one that is parked in an airport.â€
Because of construction, the event will be near the airport’s Vermillion Road entrance.
Whelan flew as a young man in the Marine Corps from 1954 to 1966 in missions over Europe and Africa.
“The most impressive view I ever had was over the Greenland icecap just as the sun was rising,†Whelan said, adding he would never have flown again if he hadn’t joined the CAF in 1991.
“They are doing something which badly needs to be done, that being to maintain and restore the aircraft that won World War II,†Whelan said. “They don’t teach history in school anymore, so many of the younger generation didn’t even know there was a World War II.â€
Brownsville Herald
Brownsville-South Padre Island International Airport (KBRO)
“I fly the older airplanes, none of this electronic stuff,†the South Padre Island resident said. “It’s a mental and physical challenge.â€
Whelan, who is with the Commemorative Air Force Rio Grande Wing, will show off his skills this weekend at the Brownsville-South Padre Island International Airport at the 15th annual Air Fiesta. After gates open at 9 a.m. and throughout the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday, planes will soar and battles will be fought.
“All the money raised in Brownsville stays right here to help keep our airplanes flying,†organizer David Hughston, 53, said. “Any airplane is expensive to own and operate, but old airplanes especially so. There’s something a whole lot more special about flying airplanes than one that is parked in an airport.â€
Because of construction, the event will be near the airport’s Vermillion Road entrance.
Whelan flew as a young man in the Marine Corps from 1954 to 1966 in missions over Europe and Africa.
“The most impressive view I ever had was over the Greenland icecap just as the sun was rising,†Whelan said, adding he would never have flown again if he hadn’t joined the CAF in 1991.
“They are doing something which badly needs to be done, that being to maintain and restore the aircraft that won World War II,†Whelan said. “They don’t teach history in school anymore, so many of the younger generation didn’t even know there was a World War II.â€
Brownsville Herald
Brownsville-South Padre Island International Airport (KBRO)
