Dream flights

This past Saturday I was honored to be able to shoot photos of a very heartwarming event, the Ageless Aviation Dreams Foundation flights provided to some of the veterans at the Wyoming Pioneer Home.

I watched these gentlemen getting off the Pioneer Home bus, some walking on their own, some with walkers or canes and even some with oxygen – looked over at the open cockpit bi-plane, and wondered how this was going to work.

What happened was amazing.

The pilot, Mike Winterboer and his wife, Diane, were simply amazing. They were so gentle with each gentleman they helped into the cockpit. It was very obvious they have done this hundreds of times and knew just where to tell them to put their hands, how to swing in their legs, one step at a time.

You could tell they both had such great respect for these veterans in the way they talked to them, how they listened and the care they took to ensure each and every one of them had the experience of a lifetime.

If you happen to see Nate or Cindy Messenger, the operators of the Hot Springs County Airport, give them a thank you, too. Without these two, this opportunity would never have been possible.