Young pilot Julius Alexander felt adrenaline running through his veins as he navigated a small plane directly over the Morehouse College campus, flying so low he could read the time off the Harkness Hall clock.
The year was 1956. The stunt was one Julius and a friend had engineered to promote their flying club at Morehouse, which they dubbed the Strato Knights. They dreamed of being fighter pilots, and this was their chance to pretend it was true, making steep turns and other daring maneuvers.
Let’s be sure they see us, Julius and his friend agreed.
It was a stunt Julius would live to regret.
The two student pilots didn’t realize it was the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombing, or that they were flying so low, people on the ground ducked, thinking the planes might crash into a building. Frightened onlookers had called the FBI and Dobbins Air Force base.
The matter was sent up to Washington, D.C., to be handled by the Civil Aeronautics Board at headquarters.
After surrendering his prized student flying certificate, Julius couldn’t sleep in the nights that followed, fearful that he and his friend might be arrested and go to jail.
Click the link below to read the rest of Julius Alexander’s story, and how he spent a lifetime clearing obstacles for kids who share his passion for flight.
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