While John Clouse spent 32 years in the U.S. Air Force — and once had been at the controls of an F-15 — he waited patiently on Tuesday, Aug. 13, for a chance to fly in an aircraft that would give him a new perspective on how it feels to fly.
That’s because Clouse, who along with his wife, Lin, are new residents of The Springs Living at Sherwood, got a chance of a lifetime. It came in the form of flying in a circa-1942 biplane, compliments of Dream Flights, a nonprofit that offers free biplane rides to veterans and seniors in long-term care facilities and retirement communities.
“Our mission is to give back to those who gave and that's what we're doing here today,” Darryl Fisher, Dream Flights president and founder, told the group gathered on the tarmac at McMinnville Airport. “You all have done so many things for us. You sacrificed and given us our freedom. We appreciate that. And this is our way of saying thanks.”
For those seniors gathered — including nine from The Springs Living in Lake Oswego, Happy Valley and Sherwood — it was a once-in-a lifetime chance to board one of two restored Boeing-Stearman biplanes that were used to train military aviators in the 1930s and 1940s.
Among those excited to go up was Clouse, a former Beaverton resident who lived in the Sunset High School area for more than 50 years before moving to Sherwood at the end of April.
“I love biplanes. I love any plane,” said the 80-year-old as he waited his turn to climb aboard the biplane that Fisher would soon pilot.
In grade school or junior high, Clouse recalled he once guided a U.S. Navy Reserve blimp and had spent much of his career in faster aircraft as well.
“I was senior NCO (noncommissioned officer) of the Year at the Portland Air National Guard Base, and I got to fly in an F-15 for an hour,” he recalled, adding that the trip aboard the fighter jet included the pilot turning upside down and later giving Clouse a chance at the controls.
One thing he said he was certain of on this cool day was “this is going to be fun.” He also confirmed that he was not nervous despite the fact he’d never flown in an open cockpit.
No stranger to adverse conditions, Clouse had previously served in the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing at Phan Rang Air Base in Vietnam, where he analyzed aircraft maintenance data.
“I got over there two weeks before the ’68 TET Offensive,” he said, referring to one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War, launched by the North Vietnamese and communist Viet Cong forces. At one point during his tour, Clouse served as an air police augmentee, guarding the base perimeter at night while continuing his aircraft day job.
At other times while serving in the U.S. Air Force, Clouse found himself analyzing aircraft data in the front and back seats of Lockheed SR-71s, the long-range strategic reconnaissance aircraft that could go Mach 3. So secret was the initial existence of the high-altitude aircraft nicknamed the “Blackbird” that it was several years after its production before Clouse could even tell his wife about its existence.
The Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, just down the road from the McMinnville Airport, has one of the aircraft on display.
After the military, Clouse would serve as emergency management director for Columbia County from 1999 to 2004.
As she waited with the other spectators before he went up, Lin Clouse expressed her enthusiasm at her husband’s chance to fly in a biplane.
“I am excited for him,” she said.
Minutes later, Clouse was helped aboard the brightly colored blue plane and fitted with a pair of earmuffs. As the engine roared to life, he and pilot Fisher taxied before disappearing into the cloudy skies above the airport, reaching heights of about 1,000 feet and traveling as fast as 90 mph.
When they landed, Fisher joked that Clouse had a smile stuck to his face. Clouse explained that unlike closed superfast aircraft, the biplane allowed him to actually experience the motion of going through the air, adding he could feel every little turn it made.
“You feel everything and that was what was the greatest part of it,” he said.
So, would he do it again?
“Oh yeah!” he replied.
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