May 17--The sky over Aiken Regional Medical Centers became a canvas for a few midday minutes Saturday, as the site of a massive Valentine-style heart that was created in honor of medical professionals and other "essential services personnel" serving in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The "Hearts of Hope" creation, reportedly almost a mile wide and nearly two miles long, was a gift from the Falcon RV Squadron, a group of pilots based in Peachtree City, Georgia. They used environmentally friendly white smoke to send a message via their homebuilt, experimental airplanes.

Pilot Robert Walden commented on how the event came together. "This weekend, we were supposed to have had a big Atlanta air show, down at our airport, and of course, that was canceled, so we've been up training for that, and ... it all stopped, and we decided, 'Well, we'll go ahead and do this.' Somebody came up with the idea of a heart and sketched it out."

The next step was to perfect the heart so it looked the part, and the end result was a salute not only to Aiken Regional Medical Centers but also to several hospitals in and around Augusta. Twelve planes took part, and although the group's aerial salutes were primarily focused on Georgia, Aiken was included due to its proximity to Augusta's cluster of hospitals.

Several other Georgia cities, ranging from Atlanta to Albany and LaGrange, have been similarly saluted in the past few weeks. A press release from the club indicated, "The hearts are dedicated to healthcare professionals, first responders, and all essential services personnel in your area who have unselfishly stepped in to keep us all safe during the COVID-19 pandemic."

Walden recalled, "We didn't realize what a reaction we would have from the people ... so, we always say it's two messages from us. It's just saying thank you to everybody that's keeping us alive out there ... and the message from the ground is just hope, especially as we're all kind of coming out of the cave right now, with this pandemic. Everybody's a little bit nervous, but the message here is hope can overcome some of the fear and everything else."

"These are all RVs," Walden said. "They're experimental, homebuilt airplanes ... named after the builder. A Dutch builder, Richard Van Grunsven, designed it, and it's the most popular homebuilt airplane, because you can do just about anything with it."

The original plan for Saturday's travel was to work at 9,500 feet, but conditions were relatively smooth and the decoration was done in the range of 7,000 to 7,500 feet. The medium of choice, Walden said, is "kind of a wax, paraffin fluid that gets injected into the exhaust, so it's environmentally safe."

Among the airborne travelers was Aiken native Monica Benjamin, a private pilot (and Delta Airlines employee) who now lives in Peachtree City. "Aiken was chosen to be included, and I'm proud that we were able to successfully ... go and give them a little thank you from us," she said.

The view was phenomenal, in Benjamin's assessment. "We actually flew over quite a bit, and it was nice to see a lot of people were out and about, hopefully practicing social distancing, of course."

Benjamin, who has dealt with breast cancer in recent years, noted that the event was especially meaningful to her in the wake of such challenges as chemotherapy and reconstructive surgery.

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