Nov. 18--Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, hero of the US Airways flight that safely ditched in the Hudson River in January 2009, will fly a vintage DC-7 from Opa-locka to Charlotte on Friday.
Capt. "Sully" roared into the skies again on Friday morning.
Only this time, it was in a vintage DC-7 propeller airliner, flying out of Opa-Locka Executive Airport in north Miami-Dade County -- not a US Airways jetliner, like the one he safely ditched in the Hudson River in New York City in January 2009.
Along with Jeff Skiles, his copilot during that harrowing "Miracle on the Hudson" flight, Capt. Chesley Sullenberger III aimed the four-engine DC-7, painted in Eastern Airlines colors, through a gray South Florida sky and headed for Charlotte, N.C., where the aircraft is to park at the Carolinas Aviation Museum. The museum is also home to the now-famous jet that Sullenberger piloted into the Hudson.
"This is a priceless, historic artifact," Sullenberger said of the 53-year-old DC-7 he boarded on Friday. "It shows how far we've come in aviation."
In addition to being a joy ride for the two hero pilots, their mission is raise money for aviation safety and awareness. In the cabin were 50 passengers who paid a $1,000 a seat to benefit the non-profit Historical Flight Foundation, based in South Florida.
Among them was Denise Lockie of Charlotte, N.C., who was on the "Miracle on the Hudson" flight.
"I'm a little bit nervous as it's an old aircraft," she said. "I'm hoping this flight is uneventful."
Sullenberger and Skiles planned to keep an extra lookout for any birds that might venture into their path -- as it was a flock of Canadian geese that caused so much trouble almost three years ago.
Their Airbus A320 rammed into the big birds shortly after takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport, causing both engines to flame out.
At the time, Flight 1549 had climbed to 3,000 feet, not enough altitude for a powerless, 80-ton jet to turn around and glide back at the airport. Sullenberger managed a near perfect water landing on the Hudson, saving the lives of all 155 on board.
Since then, Sullenberger, 60, now retired from the airline, has become a speaker on aviation safety.
As for the DC-7 he was flying on Friday: Built in 1958, the plane originally flew for Eastern Airlines through much of the 1960s. After being mothballed for more than 32 years, it was about to chopped up for scrap metal.
But a group of aviation enthusiasts based in South Florida decided to give the airliner a new life. That included Roger Jarman, president of the Historical Flight Association, which is headquartered at Opa-Locka Executive Airport.
Raising $1.6 million, they restored the interior and repainted it with Eastern's colors, a six-year project. Before it ceased operations in 1991, Eastern had its headquarters in Miami and was prominent at South Florida airports in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
The historic plane has since made appearances at air shows and on the ABC television show, Pan Am. DC-7s otherwise were known for being the largest and last of the piston-powered airliners, able to make trans-Atlantic trips nonstop.
Sullenberger and Skiles
Copyright 2011 - Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
