By REID TUCKER
David Mars might not have been born in the cockpit of an airplane, but he’s spent enough time in one to say he’s been flying most of his life.
Mars, of Jackson, Miss., and planes go way back indeed – almost all the way back, actually – and he’s got the world record to prove it. Mars, now in his 60s, became the youngest person ever to fly an airplane without an adult supervisor when, as a child of 3, he and his 5-year-old sister pinned the throttle on their father’s Cessna and took off bouncing down the runway before becoming airborne. Disaster nearly struck when a wing dipped, caught the ground and cartwheeled the airplane down the strip, eventually bringing the craft to a stop in a heap, but thankfully – and miraculously – nobody was hurt.
If anything, the incident just made Mars want to fly even more, leading to aviation-related careers from the Alaskan bush to trans-Atlantic transport to corporate flying jobs and even some stunt roles in independent movies. He got his pilot’s license in college and he’s been flying ever since, accumulating 15,000 hours of flight time despite not having a commercial or military aviation background. Mars adopted an attitude at once cavalier and prayerful with regard to the inherent risks of flying the vintage aircraft he favors over more modern types over the years.
“Invariably, someone will try to talk themselves out of going for a ride by saying something like ‘If God wanted me to fly he’d have given me wings,’” he said. “I always come back with ‘If God didn’t want us to fly he’d have given us roots.’ I just say a prayer that He’ll keep us safe, and it’s up we go.”
Mars is well known for taking his show on the road, taking roughly 19,000 people on rides in his 1929 Travel Air biplane since the 1970s, which is what is bringing him back for his third appearance at the fifth annual Marvel of Flight event. Rides in the plane run $70 per person, and there is room for two passengers in the open-air cockpit. Giving rides in vintage airplanes – of which he has a stable of seven – means Mars has developed quick retorts for those with notions that his 1929 Travel Air biplane is too old to be considered truly safe.
“‘Is that old plane safe?’ they’ll ask, and I ask right back, ‘How do you think it got to be this old?’” Mars quipped.
Mars, along with his wife, Ann, will be at the city airport for the beginning of Marvel of Flight 2015 festivities on Friday evening, including the “Escape the Yak” 5K race through the woods around the airport premises. Ann, a qualifier for this year’s Boston Marathon, was one of the top finishers at last year’s inaugural run, sponsored then as now by Healthmark Regional Medical Center. The couple, which Mars said regularly “leaves town with a full tank of gas and sleeps under the wing” of their biplane, will also attend the pilot’s meet and greet, dinner and other events Friday night before offering rides to the public during the Marvel of Flight proper on Saturday.
Biplane rides are just part of the diverse lineup of aviation-related attractions at the Marvel of Flight, which also includes numerous booths, exhibits and seminars, airplane judging, rocket demonstrations and helicopter rides. Headlining the event is an appearance by the Rise Above traveling educational exhibit, which highlights the inspirational true story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the U.S. military’s first all-black fighter squadron and features a restored P-51C fighter plane like the ones used by the “Red Tails” in World War II. This combination of vintage metal and one-on-one interaction with the public is what keeps pilots like Mars coming back to the Marvel of Flight and other events like it.
“My passion is keeping aviation history alive,” Mars said. “I’m more of a caretaker of this plane than its pilot. In a lifetime of flying, it’s not so much the planes themselves or even flying them that has meant the most to me. It’s the relationships I’ve built with people that really make everything worthwhile. Flying is one of those things that can bring people together.”
