Murrieta man pursues pilot license despite paralysis
By: LORELL FLEMING - Staff Writer
Being in a wheelchair has not kept Dale Barry from pursuing his dream of learning how to fly a plane.
Barry, a paraplegic, made his first solo flight Aug. 21 after two months of training. He has been taking lessons along with his brother-in-law, Mike Pope.
“Since I’m in a wheelchair, getting in the airplane and flying it up to the sky is the ultimate freedom for me,” said Barry, 50, of Murrieta. “The sky is a peaceful place.“It’s always been a deep desire of mine to learn how to fly a plane. Ever since I was a little kid, it has been a thrill each time I got up in a plane. So why shouldn’t I go for it?”Barry has been paralyzed from the chest down since he was 19, following a motorcycle accident in 1977, but he still has the use of his arms.
“I wasn’t the kind of guy who said, ‘Poor me,’” he said. “I just found ways to do what I needed to do in life and what I wanted to do. I was blessed to have a strong support group of family and friends.”
Besides his can-do attitude, Barry has something else going for him, instructor Ed Matthews said.
“He’s an above-average student. He’s a fast learner and his motivation to learn is way up there,” Matthews said. “Dale and his brother-in-law were at the airport just about every weekday leading up to their solo flights.”
Many students rent their planes. Barry is learning to fly in a plane he bought for $76,000. He spent an additional $1,500 to install the hand controls he needs to work the rudder and nose wheel steering — functions normally controlled with foot pedals.
One of the biggest milestones Barry faced because of his paralysis occurred even before he started his lessons. Like other aspiring pilots with disabilities, he had to receive medical clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration. He said it took him 18 months to get the clearance.
“It took a lot of medical reports and doctors’ letters until I got my FAA medical certificate in May of this year,” Barry added. “Within 30 days of getting that certificate, I found a plane to buy in French Valley. It all just came together and things are still going good. I’m going to stick to it.”
In addition to the many hours of ground school lessons, student pilots need to have somewhere between 15 and 30 hours of flying with an instructor in the plane, Matthews explained.
Finding the time to fly is easy for Barry because, as the owner of Safe and Secure Locksmith Service in Temecula, he is his own boss.
Matthews said that, other than instructing Barry on how to use to hand controls in lieu of foot pedals, he teaches Barry as he would any student pilot.
“It’s more complicated, though, because he has no help from his feet at all when he’s flying and there are other things your hands need to be doing,” Matthews added. “But Dale gets the job done.”
Barry and Pope have more ground lessons and practice, plus a test administered by the Federal Aviation Administration, ahead of them before getting their pilot licenses. The student pilots have to log many hours doing maneuvers such as flying at night and flying to airports that have air control towers. Some of those flights must be done with an instructor in the plane, Matthews said.
Barry’s wife, Terri, said she does not get consumed with worry when her husband is flying.
“He’s very cautious when he’s in the air,” she said. “Dale does what it takes to be safe.
“I’m excited for him. Dale has wanted to do this for a long time. He knows what he wants to do and he takes the steps necessary to achieve his goals.”
Contact staff writer Lorell Fleming at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2621, or at lfleming@californian.com.
