This is the municipal airport in Rexburg, Idaho
and this
is a North American T-6 Trainer flown by pilots of the United States armed forces
in World War Two
The T-6 and many other vintage planes just like it
reside here at the Legacy Flight Museum where owner John Bagley and his crew work to preserve
these amazing pieces of aviation history
The unique part about this museum is
it is a live museum
All of these planes fly and they fly on a regular basis
This is Ammaron Valora
He’s sixteen years old and lives with his family not too far from the museum in
Rexburg
Last summer John hired Ammaron to work for him on a construction project in
Nebraska and they've been good friends ever since
Recently
John invited a group of youth from Ammarons ward to tour the museum
and along the way they learned a few things about how maintaining and flying
these planes applies to life
maintaining these old airplanes if you get behind on it cost you
if you run low on coolant it's going to cook the engine and you have to overhaul
the engine. Well overhauling one of these engines
as a hundred grand
they take care of the planes and do what they need to
to make them last as long as they can and run good
we have
to stay on top of it all the time so that they are ready to fly whenever we
are
and it's the same way with our youth today
if we don't put the right stuff in our bodies
you can take the the best looking strongest most fit kid in the high school
and destroy him in a matter of weeks
if they get on the wrong stuff its like when you mess up your life you've gotta
come back
and you've got to go through the repentance process when we don't
maintain these airplanes we have to repent
this particular plane here has got bullet holes in it
During the tour John had a surprise of his sleeve
He pulled Ammaron aside and made him an offer he couldn’t
Refuse. Tell you what. Tomorrow because you help me out there in Nebraska
Tommorrow we’ll go flying
He shocked me when he asked me if I would go flying with him. I said that sounds great. But this was to be no ordinary
flight
Ammaron would have the rare opportunity to ride in the back seat of the Mormon
Mustang otherwise known as the P-51 Escort Fighter the premier
fighter
Of World War Two. The Mormon Mustang was given its name by it’s original pilot Roland
Wright who shot down three german fighters during the war. This was sure to be a
flight that Ammaron would never
forget
To me there is a great peace that comes when I fly
and it’s freedom
and to share the ride
with someone who really loves planes is a great thrill
Before we take an airplane up to fly we try to check everything
To anticipate everything that can possibly happen you make sure there’s not dings in the
prop. You make sure the bolts are all in the ailerons and the flaps. You walk around the 0:03:36.889,0:03:37.829 tail
I make sure my oil temperature is right. I make sure my
water temperatures right. I make sure I’ve got plenty of fuel
he talked to us about getting prepared to go on flights and how it relates to
how we need
to prepare for the life ahead of us. If you're going to go to college
you've got prepare in high school
and if you want to go on a mission you’ve got to start getting ready now
and you've got to avoid drugs. You’ve got to avoid pornography
you've got to avoid alcohol. You’ve got to put on the armor of God
“Clear Prop”
Getting ready to go into take off i was so excited. When the tale comes up I’m doing about fifty or
sixty miles an hour
I lift off at about a hundred knots.
Right when we took off
man I was just my heart was pounding
As I start my take off
I have to think ahead of time if the engine quit right now what what I do
and we as a people
need to do the same thing we need to plan
what's going to happen if this situation comes up. If you go to a party and they
bring out the alcohol and the beer you can’t make the choice then
You have to make it before then
the peer pressure at that particular point and times is intense.
that's not the time to decide if you’re going to be moral that night, you’ve go to decide that before hand
when we fly we have what we call the envelope
and the envelope are the parameters that we can fly in and be safe
We try to stay away from the edges
And if youth will do the same thing
kids think they can go with so-and-so and they'll reform them
that's the edge of the envelope
they think they can go out with their buddies that drink and not drink they'll be
there driver
that's the edge of the envelope
John wasn’t pushing at the limit at all when I was with him
I was having a lot of fun doing those loops and barrels and everything and those fly bys it
was a lot of fun
And he was obeying the safety rules. But if you take a drink
if you say well we can park here for just a little while
then you quit flying
If somebody offers you drugs
And you walk away you're still in control
Now you’re going to take some flack for it but in reality
if there really our friends they won’t ask us to do that
when we come back in to land we have to do a checklist again
We announce ourselves coming in to the pattern
We’ve got to make sure we get our gear down. We've going to make our approach right
And we’ve got to touch down right
Its amazing. I just loved it. I’d do it again every day.
Lessons to fly by, lessons to live by. On this day the Mormon mustang taught Ammaron a few things he won’t ever forget.
My favorite scripture comes from Mosiah 2:41.
And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state
of those that keep the commandments of God.
For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual;
and if they hold out
faithful to the end
they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of
never-ending happiness.
O remember, remember that these things are true;
for the Lord God hath spoken it.
The blessed and happy state
Of those who keep the commandments
now that's the key
to a happy life right there. Live by the rules.