Heroes and Friends

Growing up and to this day I listen to country music and as I am writing this post I can’t help but think of the lyrics of a Randy Travis song. The song Heroes and Friends has a chorus that goes like this:

Your heroes will help you find good in yourself
Your friends won’t foresake you for somebody else
They’ll both stand beside you through thick and through thin
That’s how it goes with heroes and friends

As I thought about those lyrics I realized it described my weekend in Tahoe and Reno.

I went to visit my friend from childhood, Jonathan Parker and his wife Laura.  They live in Floristan, CA, which is a really cool little town with about 30 houses or so on the side of a mountain.  I got confused when I got off the interstate because there are two little one lane tunnels that you have to drive through to access the town.  So I said  there is no way that’s how I get there and got  back on the interstate.  The GPS told me otherwise and sent me right back.  I figured it was worth a shot and sure enough that was the way to go.

Jon bought an old house in the town and fixed it up beautifully pretty much on his own.  He has done an amazing job and it turned out to be pretty accessible without even trying.

The main reason for going to visit was to attend the Reno Air Races with Jon that Saturday.  Little did I know this was going to turn out to be one of the best weekends of my life.  The only thing that could have made it better is if Sandy and the boys were there to enjoy it with me.

So we arrived at the Reno Stead Airport around 10 or so that morning and got awesome parking  thanks to my handicapped plate haha.  I had to convince Jon going in my van was going to prove useful and that sealed it. Then when we got to the gate my wheelchair got us through the short line and into the races asap.  It does actually come in handy sometimes to be disabled even though it makes life tough sometimes.

We went and found seats in the handicapped section which were amazing.  We were right in front of airshow center. We watched for awhile and then I heard that one of my heroes Bob A. Hoover, the greatest airshow and all around pilot to ever live, might be in the pit area.  On the off chance that information was correct I decided to go buy a pit pass and tried desperately to get Jon to let me buy him one too but he decided he didn’t want one.  He later regretted that a little I think haha.

I took a stroll through the pits and didn’t see anything indicating he was there so that was disappointing but I got to see a lot of cool planes up close.  There was also way better views of the action from there.  I didn’t stay long though because I was there to spend time with Jon.

As I am making my way back to our seats I see Michael Goulian.  He is a Red Bull Air Race pilot and an airshow performer.  I wanted to say hi but he was on the phone.

I made it back to the seats and was watching the action and told Jon about my Michael Goulian siting.  A few minutes later who should walk by but Michael Goulian.  So without thinking I said hey Michael Goulian.  He stopped in his tracks and said “Hey, How ya doing”.  We talked for awhile and told him I was close to getting my pilots license and he said he was in California for the Great California Airshow and that he has a place in Wells, Maine.  He has been to Maine a bunch apparently.  A really nice guy.

So hear comes the big event.  Jon and I were just watching the action still and what do I hear over the announcements. Bob A. Hoover will be signing autographs in the pits right now.  I looked at Jon and said “I gotta go”.  I spun around and pushed for all I was worth to the pits.  I made it  there so fast I was 10th in line.  I couldn’t believe my eyes, the man himself was sitting there in his signature straw hat.  I have to say I was shaking and nervous and didn’t know what to say.  This was easily the top 10 single greatest moments of my life.  I made my way through the line and right when I was about to get my picture taken my phone battery died.  The man who was running the whole event said wait a minute I will go get my phone.  He took my picture with Bob and emailed it to me.  I will forever be grateful to Brian Cochran for capturing that once in a lifetime moment.  Oh and when I finally met Bob I simply thanked him for the opportunity to be in his presence and that he is one of the reasons I choose to be a pilot.  He said thank you young man, and being 94 he can pretty much say that to anyone haha.  If you want a good book to read you should check out Forever Flying: Fifty Years of High-flying Adventures.  He did some amazing things in his career and had some unbelievable adventures.  It may even inspire you to go get your wings.  

So after that the rest of the day was pretty tame haha.  We watched the Blue Angels which is always a thrill and then headed back to Jon’s place.

I am going to split this post into a few entries so it won’t be so long but make sure to read all the parts because there are other heroes and epic adventures to talk about.