This is the municipal airport in Rexburg, Idaho.
And this is a North American T-6 Trainer flown by pilots of
the United States armed forces in World War II.
The T-6, and many other vintage planes just like it,
reside here at the Legacy Flight Museum, where owner
John Bagley and his crew work to preserve these amazing
pieces of aviation history.
The unique part about this museum is that
it is a live museum.
All of these planes fly.
And they fly on a regular basis.
This is Ammaron Valora.
He is 16 years old and lives with his family not too far
from the museum in Rexburg.
Last summer John hired Ammaron to work for him on a
construction project in Nebraska.
And they've been good friends ever since.
Recently, John invited a group of youth from Ammaron's ward
to tour the museum.
And along the way, they learned a few things about how
maintaining and flying these planes applies to life.
Maintaining these old airplanes, if you get behind
on it it costs you.
If you run low on coolant, it's going to cook the engine.
And you have to overhaul the engine.
Well overhauling one of these engines is 100 grand.
They take to the planes and do what they need to make them
last as long as they can and run good.
We have to stay on top of it all the time so that they're
ready to fly whenever we are.
And it's the same way with our youth today.
If we don't put the right stuff in our bodies, you can
take the best-looking, the strongest, most fit kid in the
high school and destroy him in a matter of weeks if they get
on the wrong stuff.
It's like when you mess up your life,
you've got to come back.
And you've got to go through the repentance process.
When we don't maintain these airplanes, we have to repent.
This particular plane here has got bullet holes in it.
It was used in the war--
During the tour, John had a surprise up his sleeve.
He pulled Ammaron aside and made him an
offer he couldn't refuse.
Tell you what.
Tomorrow, because you helped me out there in Nebraska,
tomorrow we'll go fly it.
Sounds like fun!
Great.
I love it.
He shocked me when he asked me to go fly it.
And I said, "That sounds great."
But this was to be no ordinary flight.
Ammaron would have the rare opportunity to ride in the
backseat of the Mormon Mustang, otherwise known as
the P-51 Escort Fighter, the premier fighter
of World War II.
The Mormon Mustang was given its name by its original
pilot, Roland Wright, who shot down three German fighters
during the war.
This was sure to be a flight that
Ammaron would never forget.
To me, there's a great peace that comes when I fly.
And it's freedom.
And to share the ride with someone who really loves
planes is a great thrill.
Before we take an airplane up to fly, we try to check
everything to anticipate everything that
can possibly happen.
You make sure there's not dings in the prop.
You make sure the bolts are all in the ailerons and flaps.
You walk around the tail.
I make sure my oil temperature is right.
I make sure my water temperature is right.
I make sure I've got plenty of fuel.
He talked to us about getting prepared to go on flights and
how it relates to how we need to prepare for the
life ahead of us.
If you're going to go to college, you've got to prepare
in high school.
And if you want to go on a mission, you've got to start
getting ready now.
And you've got to avoid drugs.
You've got to avoid pornography.
You've got to avoid alcohol.
You've got to put on the armor of God.
OK.
[INAUDIBLE].
Getting ready to go into takeoff, I was so excited.
When the tail comes up, I'm doing about 50
or 60 miles an hour.
I lift off at about 100 knots.
Right when we took off that lane, man, I was just happy.
My heart was pounding.
As I start my takeoff, I have to think ahead of time if the
engine quit right now, what would I do?
And we as a people need to do the same thing.
We need to plan what's going to happen if this
situation comes up.
If you go to a party and they bring out the alcohol and the
beer, you can't make the choice then.
You have to make it before then.
The peer pressure at that particular
point in time is tense.
That's not the time to decide if you're going to be moral
that night.
You've got to decide that beforehand.
When we fly we have what we call the envelope.
And the envelope is the parameters that we can fly in
and be safe.
We try to stay away from the edges.
And if youth will do the same thing--
Kids think they can go with so and so and
they'll reform them.
That's the edge of the envelope.
They think they can go out with their buddies that drink
and not drink.
And they'll be their driver.
That's the edge of the envelope.
John wasn't pushing at the limit at all
when I was with him.
I was having a lot of fun doing these loops and barrel
rolls and everything and those flybys.
It was a lot of fun.
And he was obeying the safety rules.
But if you take a drink--
if you say, well, we can park here for just a little while,
then you quit flying.
If somebody offers you drugs and you walk away, you're
still in control.
Now you're going to take some flack for it.
But in reality, if they really are friends, they won't ask us
to do that.
How are you feeling, Ammaron?
I'm feeling great.
I'm loving it.
When we come back in to land, we have to
do a checklist again.
North American, five, one bravo, Juliet, down-wind, one,
seven, full stop.
We've got to make sure we announce ourselves coming into
the pattern.
We've got to make sure we get our gear down.
We've got to make our approach right.
And we've got to touch down right.
It was amazing.
I loved it.
I'd do it again every day.
I had a great time.
Lessons to fly by, lessons to live by.
On this day the Mormon Mustang taught Ammaron a few things he
won't ever forget.
My favorite scripture comes from Mosiah 2:41.
"And moreover I would desire that you would consider on the
blessed and happy state of those that keep the
commandments of God.
For behold, they are blessed in all things both temporal
and spiritual.
And if they hold out faithful to the end, they are received
into heaven.
And thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never
ending happiness.
Oh, remember, remember that these things are true.
For the Lord, God, has spoken it."
The blessed and happy state of those that keep the
commandments.
Now that's the key to a happy life right there.
Live by the rules.