How to Celebrate Your 92nd Birthday

by Charles Mackey, AMA Fellow and Hall of Fame Fallbrook CA Dottie Johnson’s ninety second birthday was celebrated by having lunch with friends who sang Happy Birthday to her.
She blew out the lone candle on her strawberry short cake and shared it with her husband David. Dottie’s vision has been declining for years so you always see David and Dottie together. Dottie’s memory and sense of humor is remarkable and she is the kind of person whom you enjoy being around.
David Johnson celebrated his ninety second birthday a month later by putting in an amazing flight on my 7 year old aerobatic Wildcat that he had never flown before. Loops, Spins, rolls and knife edge flying come easy for David then he did some things that have no name. Some say David is a bigger than life guy and David admits to being a “big ham”.
Nothing gives him nore pleasure than being in front of people and making them laugh. We sometimes wonder if that trait came from his early days working in a Hollywood movie studio. David claims to be the first man to fly a radio control airplane over the arctic circle and he has the documentation to prove it. You can see David’s RC Seaplane that he used for this flight in the AMA Museum. David has a comic slide show presentation that he has presented to most of the model airplane clubs in our area. The program never fails to bring down the house. David set a personal goal of flying an RC model airplane every day for one year and he did it. His stable of model airplanes includes 26 models of all sizes and types. You can read more about David in his AMA Biography. David was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009. The secret of his long life is “keep doing stuff”.


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2 comments

What a great story. Stay active Dottie!

Is that a 3-D? Because it sure looks like that with those big control surfaces and motor!

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