Older pilots that can, and did

June 2, 10:31 PMDenver Aviation ExaminerChris Rodriguez

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Pilot/Newspaperman Hal Wright (CBS News)

CBS News did a story back in 1996 about a man who ran his own newspaper, his name was Hal Wright.  How many people do you know in their 70's or 80's who write and deliver their own newspaper?  What made this man even more amazing is that he regularly delivered these newspapers by airplane - he, being the cousin of Orville and Wilbur Wright after all.

Watch the video below of the story of this great guy.

Unfortunately, Mr. Wright died in 2000.

This reminds me of another older pilot that flew out of my home base, Longmont, CO.  His name was Cole Kugel.  He held the Guinness Book of Records record for oldest pilot in the world.  I remember flying a few times and the person in the right seat would tell me "there goes Cole", I even considered buying the airplane he used to fly in before eventually getting a similar model.  Mr. Kugel died in 2007 at the age of 105 with 78 years of flying under his belt, unbelievable.

Reminds me of that saying, "there are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old bold pilots".  I guess it depends on which definition of bold you choose.  I'll pick this one: "beyond the usual limits of conventional thought or action".  Yep, these two were old and bold pilots, may they rest in peace.

(Photo source: Rocky Mountain News)