WWII veteran relives dream at California International Airshow Salinas

A World War II veteran from Santa Cruz is living out one of his final dreams at the California International Airshow Salinas.

You don’t have to propel 91-year-old Edward Larson into describing what he enjoys most about the T-6 aircraft. In his mind, there’s nothing better.

“Just the way it handles, it’s very maneuverable,” Larson said. “It had enough power to do what you wanted to as far as aerobatics were concerned. And the most important thing, you could take the wheels up and makes it go quite a bit faster.”

During the Second World War, he trained other pilots how to fly the aircraft before his squad was given orders to fly missions from India to China carrying ammo, bombs and fuel to soldiers. He served in the military between 1944-46 before becoming in educator in Sacramento then retiring in Santa Cruz.

It’s been years since he’s been in the cockpit, until Thursday. That’s when one of his final missions was accomplished with the help of the airshow organizers and the California Warbirds Air Museum.

Every time I sit in it, it’s a piece of living history you’re holding on to,” explains Dave Presta with the California Warbirds Air Museum. “The airplane is exactly the way it was from the war 70+ years ago. So in order to take somebody up who flew the airplane when it was new, it’s absolutely amazing.”

As the T-6 soared into the Salinas skies to tour the coast, so did Ed’s spirit.

“Just to be here and have the thrill of reliving the hours that I spent in this airplane,” Larson explains, “Which were incomparable and unforgettable and it was the happiest time of my life.”