Back in 1976 at twenty-one years old, I was a young airplane pilot trying to fill my logbook with flight hours for the hopes and dreams of one day landing that professional pilot job. More specifically, after dad took me to Waxal, NC to visit with Bernie May and the guys at JAARS, which stands for Jungle Aviation And Radio Service, my desire was to become a missionary pilot in Papua New Guinea.
Well, we were a family of meager means, so my first attempt to fill that logbook was to join the Army National Guard in 1975 as a pilot candidate, which sent me to basic training where I managed to injure my knee so badly that it washed me out of the pilot pool. Now a flight operations specialist with no prospects of flying for the next seven years, I turned to God in prayer for a way to fly. It wasn’t easy during this time to pull thirty-five dollars together to go rent an airplane, so I started praying that God would give me an airplane. I knew what the Bible said about prayer, “...ask anything in my name.” Well, an airplane is anything, isn’t it? So I prayed. Every time I would see, hear or even think about an airplane, I went to prayer. As a young pilot with my head in the clouds, I guess I don’t have to tell you I prayed a lot. In fact, for two years I prayed about this and reminded God of His Word and how the relentless woman who pleaded with the judge got her wishes.
In addition to prayer, there is a saying, “Where there is a will, there is a way,” so I went into action. My oldest brother, who I idolized, was also a young pilot in the Air National Guard which was based literally across the ramp from my flight ops office, and every time I would see him walk out to climb in that C-130 Hercules my heart would ache. So after building up my savings to $1800 dollars I called him up and asked if he would be interested in going in halves on an airplane. To my surprise he said, “Well, how much money do you have?” I said, "$1800." He laughed and then said, “Umm, sure. You find an inspected, flying, good airplane for $3600 and we’ll buy it.” Believe me, I looked hard for it, and the cheapest I could find was about $9500. I never stopped praying this whole time, but now my prayers got very specific. “Lord, please help me find an airplane for $3600.”
"Hope deferred maketh a sick heart"
The next summer, as I was on my way to Maryland for our two week combat training, I didn’t pass an airport without stopping in and checking the sales board for local airplanes. Well, there’s another saying, “Hope deferred maketh a sick heart”, and mine was hurting pretty bad. Have you ever really begged God for something, because I have now been begging God for some time. There was one more airport on my way, so I decided to check again, and again nothing, but it was around lunch time now, so I decided to get a burger at the small airport cafe’. It was a beautiful, cool summer day so I sat out on the ramp side patio to watch the action, and even here there was nothing. It was like the airport was closed, because all I could hear was my heartbeat. As I finished lunch and was getting up to leave, I started hearing “music to my ears”, a small single engine airplane so far away I couldn’t see the plane. As the sound started to become more faint, my heart sank and I started to turn and walk away. Folks, the gate was about fifty yards away, and before I got there the plane reversed course and the sound getting louder now with every step I took back to the ramp. Finally I see the plane, then it disappears, then I see it again, then disappears again. Then I realize that this plane is a highly polished, all aluminum airplane that when it banks it’s wings at just the right angle, reflects the sky above it. I watch as he enters the pattern to land and all I can say was, “Lord, give me that airplane.”
As the plane lands and starts taxiing in, I wondered what kind it was. I thought I knew everything there was to know about airplanes, but I never saw one like this one, which caused me to want it even more. So determined to meet the pilot, I walked out to the gas pumps where he parked to introduce myself, and as he climbed out I realized he was drunk. You heard me right. He was as drunk as a skunk and smelled like one too.
Now I was really curious wondering, what kind of airplane is this that can be flown by a pilot who could barely walk to the gas pump.
Needless to say, he was less than cordial and indignant to talk to. But, having practiced being relentless with God, I continued with my questioning of him to learn if the airplane was for sale. He responded with, “Hell No!” and a lot of other words I’d rather not repeat here. I tried asking again in more creative ways only to find his boiling point. He assured me that hell would freeze over before he would sell this airplane. Well, I just knew I had to have this airplane and wasn’t going to take no for an answer, so I asked him in the most polite voice I could muster, “Would you take my name and number in chance you change your mind?” While I was writing it down, he turned his back to me without a response. I knew he had to get back into the airplane only one way, so I stood in the way with paper in hand waiting for his return. He walked up, ripped the paper out of my hand and pushed it into his front pants pocket and said, “Get out of my way!” As I did, I asked one more question. “Sir, would you please put that in your wallet so you will not lose it tomorrow?” I swear he was ready to hit me, but did what I asked, so I left. I thought, what a miserable encounter.
So now back in the car on my way to camp, I’m praying specifically for that airplane, “Lord, if you love me, give me that airplane.” I need to remind you this was in the days of no cell phones and that made for the longest two week camp ever. I was living alone at this time so I wondered if I had missed “the call”. I got back home late Saturday night, went to church the next morning and couldn’t hear the preacher over thinking about that airplane and making millions of promises to God should He give it to me. Have you ever done this? I mean I promised God a loyalty to Him like never before “if” He were to give me that plane. Have you ever bargained with God over something? Have you ever been so sure of yourself with God over something?
Well, the very next day hell froze over, because this guy calls me and apologizes for how he treated me two weeks before, and says, “I’ve been in a court battle with my wife and before I lose everything, the plane is for sale. By the way, it comes with a First Place In-Show trophy for its overall condition and damage free history. It’s a 1946 post World War II airplane that resembles a P-38 warbird and turns heads everywhere I fly it, so what ya think?” Wow, I thought. My head quickly filled with doubts as I asked, “How much?” He responded with, “I’ll take no less than $3600, thirty-six-hundred and it’s yours.” There were no debates, and it was no question that God loved me, and answered my prayer, so I responded, SOLD!!!
To my brothers surprise, we bought a nice little airplane.
I need to remind you here that I have been praying for more than two years for God to give me an airplane. I don’t know why I was so headstrong about this, but I loved to fly. I started flying when I was fifteen, soloed on my sixteenth birthday and was trying to find a way to keep flying ever since. I want you to know too, that flying high above those clouds, by myself, I would sing to the Lord. I would sing out loud all the hymns I knew and made up new ones all the time. I would praise God for His beauty up there, and in my life. In a strange way, I felt closer to Him when I was up there. Well now I had the plane to go fly anytime I wanted. For that man to say $3600 was a miracle to me, for only God and my brother knew that number. So with my heart filled with gratitude towards God, I would have a season of prayer, just me and my Lord, before I would get in my car to go to the airport. Sometime I would go just to polish it and keep that mirror like shine, but mostly to go flying. This was just too good to be true. I was willing to buy a junk airplane, and God gave me one that pulled all the ex-WWII pilots to my plane, and these guys would even help me polish it. At twenty one years old, my friends were WWII Aces.
As each day went by, I ended up spending more time flying than praying. I don’t want this to sound “legalistic”, because that has nothing to do with this story, but I would get home from work, grab a bite to eat and while chewing it, jump in the car to the airport and go fly. Then, while running up the engine on take-off I would remember to say a quick, “Thank you Lord”. I would sing a few songs to Him at altitude, but not with the intensity as times before. Then a few days later, I found myself saying a quick, “Thank you, Lord”, in the car on my way home. The following days got pretty quiet in the cockpit, so I took a cassette player with me to play some tunes. They weren’t hymns, but some good jamming, bouncy, flying tunes by Pink Floyd. I think I knew the lyrics of “Money” by heart. Then the weather season started moving in and it was hard getting a flight in every day. So if a Sunday morning was sunny, off to the airport I went. With each new week that went by, the airplane became my focus. How much flying time did I get? What currency requirements did I log? How fast can I fill that logbook? I didn’t realize what was happening until…
On a picture perfect Sunday morning after looking out the window, I was “chair-flying” my next flight while grabbing a quick breakfast, but before I could get up from the table my phone rings.
It was one of those WW II veterans calling, “Jon, your airplane is on fire!”, What??, “Your airplane is on fire!” Well call someone to put it out. I’m on my way. I drop everything, jump into my little VW Beetle and pushed the pedal to the metal, breaking every law on the way. As the speedometer rose to its peak, so did my anger. I need to explain here that I kept the plane at Bridgeport Airport, NJ outside in a tie-down spot and lived across the Delaware River in Brookhaven, PA. The drive took me over the Commodore Barry Bridge, which is a very high bridge that crosses a major shipping lane below. I also need to be blunt here as well, I need to be honest with you. As I was driving up that bridge, I was feeling helpless in getting there any faster, I needed to “save” my airplane. I knew I couldn’t, I couldn’t even control my emotions at this point and started yelling out loud, “God, Damn It.” I can’t tell you how many times I said that, but when I reached the very pinnacle of that bridge, the Spirit moved in, quieted my heart, and I heard Him say, “Well... at least I have you talking to Me again.”
Folks, to say sorry at this point wouldn’t cut it. I cried, I wept louder than I had cursed Him. I now understood how much God loved me in all of this. I instantly realized that He knew this day would come in my life and is probably why it took over two years of begging God for an airplane. He didn’t want me to fail Him from the beginning, but I knew when I said, “If you love me, you’ll give me an airplane.” He just couldn’t say no any longer. He knew this airplane would become my idol. It became my god, and before I got to the toll booth on that bridge, down the other side, I confessed to Him, felt His arms embrace me and renew a right Spirit in me that lasts to this day. I now pulled out of that toll booth with a smile on my face knowing that God would never become second place to anything in my life ever again, and began singing praises to Him again for burning up my idol.
When I arrived at the airplane, I could do nothing but stand among five WW II pilots and watch it burn, only now I had a smile on my face. They didn’t know whether to give me a hug or call me crazy, and when I saw their confused look upon their faces, I realized I have never shared Christ with them and started sharing this story with each one. I told them how much God loves us, how much He loves them, and how it is worth your all to have a relationship with Him.
I don’t know what importance numbers are to you, this may not mean anything, but I find it interesting that after more than two years of praying for this airplane that it caught fire on the 40th day of ownership. It reminded me of His forty days in the wilderness and how He was tempted in all areas as we are, and that He understands our weaknesses. So when He held out His arms to accept me back with full forgiveness, I know He understands, He feels my pain. This makes me love Him even more. I’m not telling you to curse God when you are angry, that was my failure, but I am saying to be honest with Him.
He can handle it!
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