Pat Barcas photo
Don Thompson, 91, of Aurora, takes the ride of a lifetime aboard a vintage 1944 North American Aviation SNJ-5 airplane. He gives a thumbs up prior to take off.

By Pat Barcas
Staff Writer
Don Thompson, 91, said he doesn’t think of himself as being a daredevil, but some might disagree with his humble assessment.
“No, not really,” he said with a smirk. “I used to ride dirtbikes, and I’m considering skydiving. I’ve never done that.”
Thompson conversed happily as he prepared to go for an aerobatic flight Sunday at the Aurora Municipal Airport aboard a vintage 1944 North American Aviation SNJ-5 airplane, a single engine advanced trainer used during World War II and the 1950s.
Thompson is a United States Navy veteran who flew missions protecting merchant ships from enemy submarines from 1942-1946 in the PBY Catalina, an amphibious aircraft. He flew a similar aircraft to the SNJ-5 during his training for the Navy.
The hour long flight Sunday was set up by Herschel Luckinbill, a veteran himself who is an ambassador for Honor Flight Chicago. The Gauntlet Warbirds, a company offering aerobatic and scenic flights aboard vintage aircraft out of Aurora, provided the plane and pilot for the flight.
Luckinbill said he set up the flight by talking to the owner of the Gauntlet Warbirds, Greg Morris.
“He was happy to help. I set up the date about three weeks ago, he called last week and said we are all set,” said Luckinbill. “I also ordered the weather today,” he joked.
Sunday was, of course, a beautiful day, 75 degrees and sunny, sandwiched in between two mediocre weather days. Light, puffy clouds dotted the sky above the airfield. A great day for flying.
The flight took Thompson and pilot Vess Velikov about 15 miles away over farmfields to the southwest, flying at an altitude of 6,000 feet and a maximum speed of 150 knots.
Velikov sat in front of Thompson in the two seat aircraft, which has controls for both men. They both wore helmets with visors, a flight suit, and parachutes, just in case.
“Our whole mission is for you to have fun. We’ll do whatever you want,” said Velikov to Thompson in the pre-flight briefing room, where safety protocol and a flight plan were gone over.
The plan was for Velikov to take off, travel to the training airspace, and then let Thompson take the controls. From then on, the veteran would be allowed to do whatever he felt comfortable doing, from level flight all the way to the Cuban Eight, an aerobatic maneuver that sees the plane do two loops in quick succession.
“I’m gonna do everything,” said Thompson with a smile, showing that he maybe is more of a daredevil than he led everyone to believe at first.
The nonagenarian Thompson could definitely be described as “fit as a fiddle.” He spryly climbed into the small cockpit of the plane with little help, while many World War II vets have trouble boarding a passenger plane. His daughter-in-law, Mary, said he still fits perfectly into his Navy flight suit, which he retired from in 1960 when he exited the Navy reserve.
“The cool thing is, there are not many vets left that can do this, walk right up to the airplane and get in,” she said. “It’s a great thing, he’s having a great time.”
“This is definitely bringing back memories,” said Thompson, who said he wasn’t nervous at all about the flight and had nothing but kind words about Luckinbill. “I’m grateful toward Herschel, I knew he could get this done, he can get anything. He’s quite the operator.”

Pat Barcas’ e-mail address is pat@foxvalleylabornews.com.