Rendezvous by/par Chartwell Winter 2020 | Page 17

WISH PROFILE Gordon Helm’s Royal Canadian Air Force missions are straight out of a spy thriller. The fighter pilot flew patrol along the Soviet Bloc during the Cold War, danger always a wing away. Midair faceoffs with enemy planes – guns facing guns – demanded nerves of steel to veer his F-86 Sabre away at the last possible second. “I suppose you might consider it tense,” recalls Gordon, who lives with his wife Isobel at Chartwell Lancaster Long Term Care Residence in Lancaster, ON. The operation helped keep the world free – but came at an incredible cost. Canada lost 29 pilots during that tour. “My Dad is a Canadian hero,” says Gordon’s son Murray. On National Seniors Day, Gordon’s Wish of A Lifetime came true at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, as he copiloted a de Havilland Canada Chipmunk, a train- ing plane he flew in the RCAF. “Piloting an airplane, you take off, climb to the skies, look around you and say, ‘I’m here!’ There’s no other way to get there than flying,” says Gordon, who was devastated when a medical condition grounded him at only 29. He proved that once a flying ace, always a flying ace, confidently taking control and perfectly executing a wingover, a steep climb and descent maneuver. “He was epic,” says pilot Steve Purton, a retired member of the Snowbirds. “84? Is that like the new 60?” “It was the best 25 minutes of my last 10 years,” Gordon says. “The emotions I’m feeling today are of accomplish- ing a dream.” Piloting an airplane, you take off, climb to the skies, look around you and say, I’m here! There’s no other way to get there than flying – Gordon Pilot Steve Purton, Gordon and Gordon’s son Murray. RENDEZVOUS 17