‘Flight Across America’ to include Calabasas pilot
By John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writer

FLIGHT INSPECTION--Pilot Norman Schwartz thoroughly examines his aircraft prior to the "Flight Across America" trip, an event that will honor the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Norman Schwartz, the noted pilot adventurer from Calabasas, is off to the skies again. Adding to an impressive résumé that already includes trips around the world and to the North Pole using his small Cessna, the 66-year-old pilot plans to journey to New York City on Sept. 11 for the Flight Across America event.

To honor the memory of those killed in the terrorist attacks, one pilot from each of the 50 U.S. states will transport an official state flag to the World Trade Center site. Schwartz has been chosen to carry the flag of Hawaii.

A retired attorney who lived in Long Island before moving to Southern California, Schwartz explains how he became involved in the operation.

"I’ve always loved flying as evidenced by my other two trips and in one of the flight journals they announced they were looking for representatives to participate. It just seemed like the proper thing to do."

Schwartz’s daughter-in-law and her family are from Hawaii.

Plans call for the 50 flag-bearing pilots to assemble at Essex County Airport in New Jersey on Sept. 10. The next day, pending approval by the Federal Aviation Administration, the pilots will form an aerial parade that will cross the Hudson River and fly over Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.

Details of the event are being finalized with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office, the Essex County airport and the FAA.

The aircraft are expected to fly in chronological order of statehood––a symbol of a nation united. The state flags will then be presented to the city of New York.   "It is an opportunity for pilots to respond to September 11th," said Molly Peebles, a Washington state pilot who organized the event.

"Last year, we witnessed aviation being used as a tool for incredible destruction," Peebles said. "This year, we pilots have an opportunity to reclaim our skies by using aviation as a tool for great inspiration and bringing people together across the country to do something that has never before been done."

Pilots who volunteer for Flight Across America will create their own flight plans. They can choose to fly a short local flight, longer flights across several states or even coast to coast. The goal is for at least one aircraft to take off and land from every airport in the country, forming a web of flight paths that blanket the country during the month leading up to Sept. 11.

The first aircraft will take off Aug. 11 from a place steeped in aviation history, Paine Field in Everett, Wash.–home to the Boeing wide-body jets. 

The parents of Schwartz’s daughter-in-law will bring the Hawaiian flag to Calabasas. Departing from Van Nuys Airport with the flag, Schwartz will fly his twin-engine aircraft to Raleigh, N.C. to pick up his daughter-in-law––where she’s stationed with her husband––and proceed to New York.

The trip will take about four days, said Schwartz, who keeps his skills honed by flying his airplane at least once a week.

In 1993, Schwartz took his Cessna 340 on a 21-day flight around the world, a trip that had its share of tense moments.

"My starter motor went dead in a remote airstrip in Greenland," he said," but fortunately one of the other planes made an unscheduled stop and happened to have a spare starter motor to get me out of there."

He followed up with a 1997 journey to the North Pole. A co-pilot accompanied both flights. Schwartz has been a Calabasas resident for the past 30 years.