Title: Born to Fly
Artist: Jeff Chenatte
Medium: Photography
How does this artwork represent healthy human aging? (Artwork Description)
Find something that you love to do and you’ll never work a day in your life. For Allen French, that bliss was flying: he has spent a lifetime in the air and when he was not flying, he was teaching. Al French, born December 9, 1946, has been flying since achieving his fixed-wing pilot’s license through Air Cadets at 15. He joined the RCAF prior to his 18th birthday and flew Tutors, T-33’s, Sabre’s, and CF-104’s prior to joining Canadian Pacific Airlines in 1973. In his 33-year airline career, he flew DC-8, 727, 737, DC-10, A320, and 767 aircrafts. He also taught aerobatics on the Citabria and the Pitts Special private aircraft. Since retirement, Al has worked on and continues to fly the Fleet Canuck, the SE5A, and the two Sopwith Pups owned by the Canadian Museum of Flight in Langley, BC. His love of flying has kept him young at heart and rife with knowledge and mental acuity. These gifts are a byproduct of healthy ageing and qualities that he shares readily as a volunteer and mentor to any who ask. Whether it is peer-to-peer or intergenerational, his commitment to volunteerism and the rich psychological and physiological rewards that it offers have been the foundation upon which Al has grown to be the epitome of healthy ageing.
Submission Category: Public