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Career pilot surprised by birthday flight

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She may be a sweet great-grandma with bright eyes and a ready smile, but don’t let her fool you. 

Outwardly, “she’s just a cute little lady who wear dresses every day, with her hair in a bun, as homespun as can be,” said Betty Sieges, activities director at St. Luke Extended Care center.

But Lorene Pollock, who celebrated her 79th birthday on Saturday, was once a fierce pilot with a knack for aerobatics. There was no monkey business though as she was contracted to shuttle fresh-off-the-assembly line Cessnas from the Wichita, Kansas factory to their new owners across the country.

“Being a woman I’d be easier on a new plane,” Lorene said. “You have to be careful how you break them in.”

In 1970 she flew against 24 other planes in a four-day air race from Calgary, Alberta, Canada to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with her female co-pilot, “Billie.” The team finished near the top.

She earned her license in the mid-1960s after flying with a friend “Who did all kinds of aerobatics,” said daughter Beverly Beekmann. “They thought they’d joke and scare her.”

The joke backfired.

“I kinda liked it,” Lorene said.

She learned to fly straight and level and earned her license before trying her hand at the aeobatics. Beckhamm said her mom was a natural at flying.

Her husband Howard was also a private pilot and worked as a mechanic for Continental Airlines after learning his trade during the Korean War. Howard bought Lorene her first plane, a Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser — a “taildragger,” according to pilot and flight instructor Monte Baer, because of the third wheel under the tail, which takes “a whole lot of skill … 80 percent of pilots don’t know how to fly one.”

Lorene named her plane “Ole Snoopy” and Howard painted the Charles Schultz cartoon character dressed as the Red Baron onto the tail of her aircraft. Often a stuffed 3-foot-tall Snoopy accompanied her on solo flights.

“She’d come pick us up as little kids,” said her granddaughter Melissa Coleman of Charlo, although Melissa was just an infant on her first ride.

She had the opportunity to fly commercial aircraft, though not officially. When the pilots learned Lorene was on board, they’d invite her to the cockpit to take the controls for brief periods.

It’s been more than 30 years since she’s piloted aircraft, but Lorene still remembers the joy of controlling the plane high above the ground.

“You’re just part of the plane,” Lorene she said. “You can just feel its moods somehow. It just feels so wonderful.”

Lorene continued to fly into the 1980s, but as time marched on the couple felt the need to move from Texas to be close to family in Montana, and now both reside at St. Luke Extended Care facility. 

While playing Bingo with the couple, Russ Jenkins heard Lorene talk about her career as a pilot. So with the help of staff, the couple’s daughter, and pilot Baer, he helped organize a surprise joy ride for Lorene a day before her 79th birthday in the same style Cessnas that Lorene had been contracted to fly in younger days.

They told her the news just minutes before driving her to the Ronan airport on Friday.

“I might like it so much I might just push the pilot out and fly,” she said in anticipation, eyes twinkling.

Lorene didn’t have to go to extremes. As soon as they were airborne, Baer let Pollack take over the yoke in the passenger seat of the Cessna 172. 

“I gave her the controls. She didn’t forget how to fly. It’s something you don’t forget,” Baer said.

For a smooth 20 minutes Lorene soared above Mission Valley before handing the reigns back to Baer for the landing.

“She kept saying over and over, ‘It’s been so long,” Baer said after the flight.

With a headset still firmly over her ears, Lorene was beaming as she opened the cockpit door.

“I can’t get out, so I have to go back up,” she said with a laugh. “That was super good. That brought back memories. It was a lovely ride,” Lorene said before asking the pilot, “Did I scare you?”

Without hesitation, Baer replied, “Not even once.”

 

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