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101-year-old pilot still flying
Ernie Trent said he has been flying planes since the 1930s -- including a stint training B-52 pilots during World War II -- and he has never crashed an airplane or been injured by a plane-related incident, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.
"I just like airplanes," Trent said.
Richard Gibbs, a longtime friend of Trent's who oversaw the elderly pilot's last proficiency test, described his friend as "the oldest licensed pilot in the United States. At least as far as I know."
Gibbs said Trent, who must pass a proficiency test every two years, remains sturdy in the cockpit of his single-engine Avid Flyer plane.
"It's very natural to him," Gibbs said. "His skill level is pretty high."
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
This news arrived on: 06/24/2008
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Posted Comments:
06-26-2008 11:29
StarLord wrote:
101-Year-Old Pilot Still Flying
Ditto on the B-25/52 mix-up, but it was Col. DOOLITTLE who flew off the carrier USS Hornet and bombed Japan. Now, the A-6 Intruder flies off carriers with the same load as a B-17.
06-26-2008 08:20
TIDEWATCHERS wrote:
FLYING HIGH
EITHER THE B-52 THING WAS A SIMPLE(?) ERROR,
OR MAYBE THEY SHOULD LOOK AT THOSE TEST RESULTS
AGAIN.... IT'S NOT WHAT HE'S GONNA DO TO HIMSELF
WHEN HE CRASHES, IT'S WHO HE'S GONNA TAKE WITH
HIM....
OR MAYBE THEY SHOULD LOOK AT THOSE TEST RESULTS
AGAIN.... IT'S NOT WHAT HE'S GONNA DO TO HIMSELF
WHEN HE CRASHES, IT'S WHO HE'S GONNA TAKE WITH
HIM....
06-26-2008 08:17
Gordon wrote:
101 year old still flying
Your subject may have trained B-25 pilots during WWII, but he didn't train B-52 pilots then because the B-52 didn't fly until the late 40s or early 50s and was not put into the Air Force inventory until sometime in the 50s. WWII was over in 1945!
06-26-2008 07:14
Texas Pilot wrote:
101-Year-Old Pilot Still Flying
Nice story, however, the WW II aircraft could not possibly have been a B-52 as the B-52 wasn't brought into service until the 1950's. Perhaps the author of this article meant to say B-17 or B-29 rather than B-52.
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