Pilot Has the 'Wright' Stuff

By Mila Koumpilova

North Dakota resident Bill Grieve has been a pilot for 62 of his 79 years, during which time he has flown himself to high school, done aerobatics as recreation while working on a dairy farm, and spent the past 27 years as a crop sprayer. Grieve recently received a Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to honor is 50 years of safe flying, and he has no plans to stop anytime soon. "It's just a good view of the world every time you go out," says Grieve, who flies a Cessna Agwagon. "It's always a little different." Flying was largely a hobby for Grieve for more than 30 years, albeit a much-loved one—he even took his future wife up in a plane to ensure she liked flying enough to be compatible—and he also works with the Experimental Aircraft Association's Young Eagles program, taking young people on plane rides to nurture their own love of flying.

April 24, 2009