Veteran 99-year-old all smiles after flight with fellow pilot

Jack Custance spent part of Labor Day Monday soaring over the community.

The 99-year-old Chatham resident, who was a pilot in the Second World War trained on the Fairchild Cornell plane, was smiling from ear to ear as he prepared to take to the sky Monday morning.

He was the guest of local pilot Steve Moerman, whose day job is a paramedic with Chatham-Kent EMS.

“It’s a beautiful day for flying,” Custance said, before singing out, “Nice blue skies are shining on me.”

Their flight plan from the Chatham-Kent Municipal Airport was to follow the Thames River to Lake St. Clair, go over Stoney Point and head back over Chatham before returning to the airport.

Moerman said he met Custance after responding to a call for medical assistance.

“He didn’t need us to take him to the hospital, so we stayed and visited for a while,” Moerman said.

He said they got talking about airplanes as is often the case with pilots.

Moerman left Custance his phone number with the offer that if he wanted to go for ride in his Cessna 150 to give him a call.

“I just love sharing flying,” Moerman said. “I’ve always loved flying since I was little.”

“I was hoping that it wasn’t just talk,” Custance said of Moerman’s offer.

He said with a big smile, “It’s coming to pass.”