5/16/2023 0 Comments Corsair pilot gun jamI bought that same Stearman in 1985.” Basic Jet training at Meridian. I remember going to the airfield with the family when I was 10 years old and sitting in the cockpit of a Stearman duster. I fell in love with aviation and decided then and there I wanted to be a fighter pilot then a commercial pilot. He became a commercial airline pilot and took me for my first flight in a Globe/Temco Swift. My uncle trained young pilots during WWII using the Stearman biplane. My mom had a fear of flying but conquered that fear to become the 2nd licensed female pilot in western North Carolina. He was severely wounded on the 2nd day of the Normandy invasion which ended his military career but that didn’t stop him from becoming a private pilot, even with a steel pin in his leg. My dad served with the 101st Airborne in WWII. “I was born into a family of aviators in Horse Shoe, NC. As a Navy fighter pilot Laughter flew into the most heavily defended country of his era, a place called North Vietnam. Thing is, many of the flyboys are no longer young and their machines are older than they are, but in aviation ‘older’ means an enormous amount of hard-earned experience by trial and error, sometimes even the death of a wingman. John Laughter can recite Barnstormer’s menu by heart from one too many hamburgers and gooey desserts shared with other daring young men and their flying machines. Loiter around the grass field long enough and you may see a floppy-eared Beagle land his dog house. Pilots who frequent Barnstormer’s are seasoned aviators with thousands of hours behind the controls of contemporary aircraft, but these guys would feel right at home inside the cockpit of a WWI era Sopwith Camel, a French Spad, or the Fokker Dreidecker (tri-plane) of Red Baron renown. Then we can fly back for an interview at my house.” Needless to say, nobody had to twist my arm.The grass airfield in Williamson, GA is also home to the Candler Field Museum and the Civil Air Patrol. Arranging an interview quickly turns into something very special when the veteran suggests, “Let’s just fire up the old Stearman and fly down to Peach State Aerodrome for lunch at Barnstormer’s Grill.
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