Mr. Earl P. is an 89 year old man whose commitment to his family and airplanes is absolutely unrivaled. Earl’ fascination with airplanes began when he was 14 years old and began working at AVO, an airplane equipment plant in Detroit, Michigan. Since that moment, Earl has committed himself to learning everything he can about airplanes. Earl says that he can recognize an airplane by the sound of the engine and continues to focus on learning new facts about antique fighter planes every day.
Earl was unable to fly in wartime due to an injury that left him with seven toes and never was able to get his pilot’s license due to his macular degeneration. Earl has had the honor to take several flying lessons as co-pilot, but has never been able to fly in a Mosquito Bomber. Earl has wanted to fly in this unique antique plane since the 1940’s. He loves the speed and sleek make up of this type of plane, and marvels that the Mosquito was built in Canada. Wish of A Lifetime was very proud to send Earl and his daughter, Bette-Ann to Virginia Beach to experience his wish once and for all on May 19th, 2017.
With help from K-State Gerontology Club at Kansas State University who helped raise money to make Earl’s Wish come true. Wish of A Lifetime was very pleased to be able to allow Earl to experience this very unique fighter plane that so many enthusiasts have yet to see up close and personal. With help from K-State Gerontology Club at Kansas State University who helped raise money to make Earl’s Wish come true, he and his daughter were flown to Virginia Beach during the weekend of May 19th and attended the Warbird’s over the Beach airshow. Earl will meet the owner and pilot of the Mosquito and was given a full tour of the Mosquito along with a special tour of the Warbird’s museum. Earl was able to climb into the cockpit himself and imagine what it would have been like to fly the Mosquito. Earl had an incredible day, proudly telling everybody about the Mosquito and grinning ear to ear throughout the entire day. His daughter said that the day left him ‘thoroughly exhausted and absolutely fulfilled’.
