Actor Morgan Freeman Comes To Wittman Field

You may remember him as Red from "The Shawshank Redemption," or as Scrap Iron from "Million Dollar Baby." But on July 27, Morgan Freeman was just another pilot among pilots at AirVenture 2007.

This was Freeman's first trip to Oshkosh. His initial reaction, in a word, was "organized."

"I took the Helicopter tour. This place is organized, and laid out perfectly There is a place for everything, and everything is in its place," Freeman said. "I've never been anywhere with this many airplanes!"

Freeman learned to fly from a friend in his Seneca, and had just learned how to land when the friend suggested some real flight instruction might come in handy. Freeman now flies a Cessna 414 and a Citation 501SP.

Although his first lesson wasn't until 2002, his love for aviation started in high school, during the Korean War.

"I started out flying my desk. My teacher interrupted that, and asked, 'What are you doing?' 'Nothing!'"

Freeman said flying enriched his life since earning his ratings.

"When I'm traveling with my family, and I'm doing the flying, it's so much easier. That way, I don't have to be strip searched!"

Asked which aircraft of all those at AirVenture he would like to fly, Freeman immediately answered the F-86 Sabre, the same jet he dreamed of flying until his English teacher shot him down.

We know the feeling, sir.

FMI: www.airventure.org, www.imdb.com/name/nm0000151/