Once a pilot ...

By RALPH BARTHOLDT

Staff Writer

In his 88 years, John Vasilchin piloted more than 35 planes, from jets to freighters.

But the former Air Force fighter pilot who flew more than 200 combat missions in Vietnam between November 1967 and November 1968, including 22 in North Vietnam, had never done what many Northwest pilots do in their sleep.

He had never puddle-jumped from lake to lake in North Idaho in the pilot’s seat of a single-engine float plane.

That, however, is what he did for the first time last week, when Vasilchin earned his seaplane rating with Coeur d’Alene Seaplanes.

Before traveling to North Idaho from Las Vegas earlier this month, the only time Vasilchin had previously spent in Idaho was while stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base in the early 1950s. He returned a few times, landing planes at the base or driving through for a visit since retiring from the Air Force in 1971 as a major.

He didn’t consider being certified to fly the single-engine pontoon planes that lob serenely through emerald skies here, mostly in summer, looking for a water hole in which to land.

After having flown DC3s, 72-foot military transport Noratlases and Grumman amphibious airliners, acquiring a small seaplane rating seemed frivolous.

“It’s like going backwards,” Vasilchin said.

But, dang, it was fun.

“It was different, but it was enjoyable,” he said.

Vasilchin wouldn’t even have considered the prospect if he had not won a raffle in a Wisconsin fly-in.

He tossed his name into a hat at the Oshkosh air show last year and was chosen to be certified by a flying outfit in Idaho that specializes in float-plane flying.

“I had a friend in Rathdrum,” he said. So, he was pleased to visit and learn to fly another plane in the process.

His instructor, Lisa Martin, liked the fighter pilot’s company.

“John was amazing to fly with,” Martin said. Her student taught her some things, too.

“We’re never too old, or even too heroic, to learn something new.”

Mike Kincaid, of Hayden, who tests pilots, didn’t know what to expect when he heard he would have an 88-year-old student. He was happy to have the finely honed Vasilchin in his cockpit.

“Skills can deteriorate when we get older and some pilots quit, some become nuisances,” Kincaid said. “John’s skills are really sharp.”

Sitting in a hangar at the Coeur d’Alene Airport this week where he picked up his seaplane rating card, Vasilchin brushed off the kudos.

“It’s an easy plane to fly,” he said. “And it’s forgiving. You’re not going to get into trouble unless you’re careless or do something stupid.”

He’s glad he came from his Las Vegas home to see the Panhandle his Rathdrum pal often spoke fondly of, and maybe he’s not done.

Vasilchin said next, he wants to fly helicopters.