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Sayre pilot honored for 50 years of safe flight
Published: December 23, 2009
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Review Photo/Brian Bishop Pilot Dana Smith stands with an aircraft at the Bradford County Airport.
TOWANDA - On April 1, 1945, 80-year-old Dana Smith, who now lives in Sayre, took his first solo flight.
Sixty-four years later, he's still flying.
Smith was recently awarded the Federal Aviation Administration's "Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award" for 50 consecutive years of safe aircraft flight operations.
After getting his private pilot's license in 1946, he flew planes belonging to his father, brother and friends around the family farm in Ulster.
Smith was grounded for a while when he entered the Navy in 1950. He served in the Navy for four years as an aircraft mechanic, he said, and did occasionally fly as a private pilot during that time.
After the Navy, he began flying continuously, he said. In 1967, he became an aircraft instructor and started teaching others to fly. Over the years, he's been a part of the education of more than 50 pilots, he said. One of those who benefitted from his instruction was Neil Wilson, who currently is an instructor at the Bradford County Airport.
"I'm turning it over to the younger generation," Smith said.
Smith still teaches flying to this day, working as a volunteer glider instructor at Harris Hill in Elmira, N.Y., he said. He also flies the tow planes that bring the gliders aloft.
He has worked as an aircraft mechanic, he said, and was a corporate/charter pilot in the Endicott/Binghamton, N.Y., area until his retirement in 1994. He also ran the Blue Swan Airport in Athens Township for seven years, from 1966-1973.
This isn't the first time he's been acknowledged by the aviation community - he received the FAA's "Master Mechanic" award in 2000, he said, for 50 years as an aircraft mechanic.
Learning to fly is a challenging, long process, he said, with many hours of instruction and solo flight required to get a license. Pilots also must train for and receive ratings to be able to fly different types of aircraft, carry passengers, or fly in different conditions.
"I've had a great life," Smith said, and he plans on continuing to fly for as long as he's healthy.
Brian Bishop can be reached at (570) 888-9652; or e-mail: bbishop@thedailyreview.com.
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Morton John Roberts
Houston, TX