Plane Ride is a Wish Come True

Darwyn Lepper, left, prepares for a dream plane ride, piloted by Bob Grondzik. Photo by Ruth Lepper

Darwyn Lepper waited a long time for a ride in a vintage aircraft. When his name was announced at the Fourth of July Parade in Julian, that wait was soon to be over.

"This was something I wanted to do ever since I was a young boy," said Lepper, a Ramona resident since 1976.

Each year the parade committee sponsors an opportunity drawing, at $10 a chance, for a ride in a vintage plane. Bob Grondzik, one of the pilots in the flyover that amazes crowds every year during pre-parade festivities, made the arrangements for Lepper to ride along in his T-128 North American aircraft.

They flew out of Ramona airport, over East County circling around Mount Helix as they headed toward South Bay before flying west over the ocean. From there it was north along the coast around Point Loma to Del Mar, then east as they headed back to Ramona.

"The thing I liked best was looking down into the ocean," Lepper said. "You could look into the water and see the kelp beds. There was so much to see."

Jim Mazzone, founder of the Julian parade, flew in one of two planes that accompanied Grondzik's aircraft.