Just plane great
88-year-old’s bucket-list wish fulfilled
Well, that one’s scratched off the ol’ bucket list.
“Once we’re airborne I’m going to give you control,” Debert flying instructor Liam Goulet told 88-year-old Dorothy Archibald, just before takeoff in the single-engine Cessna.
Archibald responded somewhat nervously, then asked for a cushion so she could sit a bit higher, as Goulet began to taxi out onto the runway.
She had flown many times on commercial airlines during her lifetime, but Archibald had never flown in a small plane. And when Parkland staff asked in their monthly newsletter whether any residents had a bucket-list item they wanted to fulfill, her request was to fly a small plane.
“I’ve always wanted to but never had the opportunity really,” she said of this goal. “Ever since I was young, prewar, it was there, in the early ’30s.”
Archibald was a young child living in Bristol, England, and her grandfather, who lived in Manchester, would charter a small plane to fly him every time he came to visit. So when the offer was made to submit a bucket-list request, Archibald didn’t hesitate.
“I was very thrilled. I didn’t think it was going to be possible, as the original reaction was, maybe on a simulator or something like that,” she said.
“But it happened.”
“I’m not sure if I can understand the instruction,” she said, just prior to heading out on the tarmac late Tuesday morning. “I got on the computer and looked at the dash, we call it, of a plane. I’ll never grasp all that,” she added, with a laugh. “I hope he makes it simple.”
After being assisted into the plane by Goulet, Archibald listened to his instructions and when the plane reached flying
altitude and leveled off, he handed over the controls. Not for long, though.
After just a few moments of piloting the craft – during which she was invited to try a banking manoeuvre –Archibald handed control back to Goulet, preferring, she said, to just enjoy the scenery.
“Oh, I enjoyed it. I didn’t do much flying,” she chuckled, after touching down. “But I did it. I felt the movement. It was a
little bit more than I thought. I didn’t realize how small it was,” she said, of the four-seater craft. “A little different than commercial.”
And, overall, Archibald said she was very grateful for the experience, made possible by Parkland staff, the Debert Airport and Goulet.
“It’s great. Absolutely great,” she said. “I really appreciate it.”