LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Harrison Ford is all set to reprise his role as the globe-trotting archaeologist and college professor, Indiana Jones, in the fifth installment of the iconic franchise, titled 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'. The film is scheduled to release in theaters across the US on June 30.
While Indiana Jones has continued to showcase his love for adventure as a man on a quest across the globe since his 1981 appearance on ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ Ford has also experienced his own share of adventurous journeys with his immense love for flying. The actor, 80, has reportedly been flying for 28 years. “I will not be buried under a stone that says actor. For me, flying is as important a part of my life as my business. It’s not like playing golf,” he told Esquire in a new interview.
Harrison Ford was the president of Young Eagles for five years
During the interview, Ford spoke of Young Eagles, an organization of Experimental Aircraft Association which conducts events at local airports on Saturday afternoons and allows pilots to take children flying for half-hour flights to pique their interest. Ford served as the president of the group for five years and took up dozens of children himself. “Here’s the thing. When we take a kid up, we’re actually investing his voting mother and father in general aviation, which is different from commercial aviation. People don’t understand both the value and the contribution to the economy, and the community, that general aviation provides,” he shared.
“General aviation—that’s the farmer who’s flying his produce to a farmers market, that’s the mechanic with his tools who’s flying out to fix another airplane, that’s a doctor in Montana who’s flying himself from clinic to clinic. It’s me when I go to f***in’ Haiti to drop off supplies and doctors when there’s an earthquake. It’s a whole community of people who contribute to the economy who are getting squeezed out because the government would rather concentrate on commercial aviation. And we have been beset by losing airports for the economic opportunity that they present in another form,” the actor added.
‘Flying is the tension between freedom and responsibility’
Back in 2015, Ford crashed his Ryan PT-22, a vintage World War II-era single-engine plane, at a golf course near Santa Monica Airport. Speaking about the shortened runway of the airport, where he kept his aircraft, the cultural icon said, “So look. Here’s Santa Monica Airport. Here’s the runway. [Bangs fork down.] Here’s the beach. [Knife, perpendicular, a few inches away.] And between the airport and the beach? [Slaps napkin down, indicating the city.] The height of buildings is limited by the FAA because of plane traffic taking off.”
He further explained, “So they took fifteen hundred feet off a five-thousand-foot runway to squeeze people out—airplanes—so they could build higher buildings over here. [Bangs the napkin.] Of course then they do a survey among Santa Monica voters. ‘What are the ten things that most need to be done?’ Number ten on their list is to get rid of the airport. But number one on their list is traffic congestion. [Lowers chin, raises eyebrows, points at me.] I rest my case.”
The honorary Palme d'Or recipient continued to share his insight on flying and said, “Flying is the tension between freedom and responsibility.” He mentioned, “The obligation on every flight to ensure the safety of the people aboard. It’s serious. And I continually have to meet the standards.” For told the publication, “And: It’s the third dimension! We’re living the two—dimensional life here on the ground. [Loud table drumming.] When you get up there and you see the third dimension—that’s what’s so exciting about these kids, the Young Eagles. You fly ’em over their house and it’s the first time they really know where they live.”
‘Up here I don’t think about much’
Ford has been a lifelong plane aficionado and owns quite a handful of aircraft, all of which he keeps in his private hangar. Back in 2009, Ford appeared in a short film titled ‘Just Another Pilot,’ which highlighted the actor’s passion for flying and followed him in his journey as he drove a small plane from Idaho to Washington. “Up here I don’t think about much except flying. Everything else just kinda falls away,” he said at the time.
The ‘Blade Runner’ star also revealed how he began taking flying lessons as a college student in the 1960s. Although he couldn’t afford to continue the lessons, he went on to spend time in aircrafts before successfully managing to get behind the controls from a pilot’s seat several years later. Speaking about one of the reasons behind his love for flying as a pilot, Ford said, “(You) get to see little towns, little airports. Meet the people at those little airports.” He further added, “Flying low level across this country you get to see not just the great natural beauty and the scope of it but also the history of the country and how it grew up.”
“I like to challenge myself,” Ford said about being the air. “Always make sure that I don’t overchallenge myself. I’ve had a lot of good people look after me and keep me safe,” he added. “I have the luxury of being able to fly pretty much uninterrupted, train when I want to, buy an occasional airplane. I’m just darn lucky,” Ford shared.
