At 94, Air Force veteran Pete Woolly needed a walker to reach the airplane. With help from his care team, he boarded a two-seater at Ken Jernstedt Airfield for about 30 minutes over the Hood River Valley — a flight he had been hoping to take.
Woolly lives at Flagstone Senior Living in The Dalles and has been drawn to flying for much of his life. As reported by localmemphis.com, he took flying lessons when he was younger and had been on airplanes hundreds of times. He was once based in Alaska.
Bristol Hospice paid for the outing, with Fly-It Academy donating some flight time. Hayley Drader, senior executive director at Flagstone Senior Living, said Woolly's wish was to fly once more. His care team accompanied him to the airfield and helped him get to the plane, according to the report.
A Lifelong Wish, One Last Time
Diana Bailey, a case manager and registered nurse with Bristol Hospice, said Woolly had wanted the outing. The report said his care team knew his time was limited, making the request time-sensitive.
The pilot behind the controls was 20-year-old Jonathan Hart of Fly-It Academy, a Portland-area flight school. Hart joined Hood River Soaring at 13 and soloed at 14. On his 17th birthday, he planned to take his private airplane and instrument checkrides. In 2023, he was the club's vice president and had more than 400 total flight hours.
Flying Out of a Storied Airfield
Ken Jernstedt Airfield is a public airport two miles south of Hood River. The EAA notes that the gorge can bring persistent, sometimes fierce crosswinds. The airfield was named for Kenneth Jernstedt, a World War II Flying Tigers pilot who later served as Hood River mayor and an Oregon state senator, according to Wikipedia.
The airfield is also home to the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum, which holds an annual fly-in, as FLYING Magazine has reported.
Part of a Broader Push to Honor Veterans
Hospice providers also use veteran-focused programs to guide care. We Honor Veterans is a program that recognizes member organizations committed to improving care for veterans.
What hospice guidance says
According to We Honor Veterans, the program gives tiered recognition to member organizations committed to improving care for veterans through respectful inquiry, compassionate listening and grateful acknowledgment. That information does not establish whether Bristol Hospice participates or whether the program arranged Woolly's flight. Medicare's hospice-benefits booklet says hospice care is for people who are terminally ill. That general guidance does not establish Woolly's individual prognosis or timeline.
In Woolly's case, hospice support helped make a long-held wish possible.
After the flight, Woolly said it had made his day.
