MCMINNVILLE, Ore. — Terry Martin had the chance to see McMinnville in a unique way: flying thousands of feet above the town in a biplane. He was among the veterans who caught a plane ride at the McMinnville Municipal Airport on Tuesday.
"McMinnville orchards. It was great! I loved it," Martin said. "I love to see what the area looks like from the air. Looked a lot different."
The experience was made possible through the nonprofit Dream Flights, which honors veterans and older adults with biplane rides. Biplanes have two pairs of wings, one above the other, and this plane is similar to aircraft used to train military aviators in the late 1930s and early 1940s, according to the nonprofit.
Martin served two years in the Air Force in the 1960s.
"I’ve never been up in a small plane like that. Not two-wing, anyway," Martin said.
Darryl Fisher, the founder and president of Dream Flights, has flown thousands of veterans since the nonprofit started in 2011. The majority of veterans honored are those who live in nursing homes, assisted living centers and retirement centers.
"I’m like on cloud nine today because I get to hang out and I get to honor veterans who have done so much for us," Fisher said on Tuesday. "In my world, it just doesn’t get any better than that, getting to thank them for their service."
He said the nonprofit came about by accident and grew after he conducted his first flight for the nonprofit in Oxford, Mississippi on March 29, 2011.
"I began to realize the impact that a flight, for someone in their nineties and hundreds, what it meant to them at that stage in their life," Fisher said. "Given my background and my abilities, one thing kind of led to another and I just felt like this is where I belong."
Along with Martin, a 100-year-old veteran named Arthur Jackson Martens, who goes by Jack, was also among those who flew on Tuesday.
"The smile on his face — I could see it in the mirror — and the smile on his face was just unbelievable," Fisher said. "I saw that my heart is full and my tear ducts are dry. They’re empty."
World War II veterans are asked to write their signature on the biplane's tail.
"We’ve flown thousands of World War II veterans and they go with us via their signatures on the tail," Fisher said.
Dream Flights is preparing to take off for its 7,000th flight on Sept. 18. Anyone interested in volunteering or signing up for a flight can visit the nonprofit's website.
