And From The Left Seat, Too

When the Wright brothers took their first flight in Kitty Hawk, NC, Rose Marie Schiltz was nearly 7 months old... but she didn't take her first flight until Wednesday.

Schiltz, who turns 104 on May 20, loved her special, early birthday present from Cirrus Design. "That will keep me going," said an excited Schiltz after landing at Duluth International Airport. "I'm still flying."

"I had never been in a plane before," she told the Duluth News Tribune. "It was a good day to find out. I thought it was beautiful. We had a beautiful trip. We had a wonderful pilot. Everything went smoothly."

The Duluth News Tribune reports the flight happened after longtime friend Karen Holm mentioned Schiltz's long-held desire to fly to a social worker at Viewcrest Health Center, where Schiltz lives.

The social worker mentioned the idea to the Center's activity director, Mistyn Haig. Haig called her husband, Robert, who happens to be a Cirrus pilot. The result was the trip of a lifetime.

"This was a huge opportunity for Rose to do what she wanted to," Mistyn Haig said Wednesday. "She's thrilled."

Schiltz, Holm and a nurse boarded a brand-new Cirrus SR22-G3 Wednesday for an hour-long flight with pilot Robert Haig. They cruised up the North Shore to Shovel Point and back then around Duluth. They even flew over Enger Golf Course, where Schiltz used to play golf.

All the while, Schiltz, sitting in the front left seat, was absorbing it all. She denied being frightened, but did decline an offer to get a feel for the plane herself.

"She wouldn't let me take my hands off the controls," Robert Haig said. "She was content watching everything that was going on."

"She just can't believe she actually got in the plane," Holm said after the flight. "She was busy watching out the window."

It was a great experience sharing the joy of flight with someone like Schiltz, Haig said.

A beaming Schiltz exited the aircraft and was greeted with Cirrus employees and friends singing "Happy Birthday" after her flight.

"It's so rejuvenating when we have one of these moments we can bring such joy to someone," Cirrus spokeswoman Kate Dougherty said. "For 30 years this is all she wanted to do. What a joy to help her fulfill her dream."

(Photos courtesy of Justin Dillon, Cirrus Design Corp.)

FMI: www.cirrusdesign.com