91-Year-Old Navy Veteran Stays Young through Passion for Flying

A 91-year-old retired U.S. Navy captain continues to fly and has no plans to stop anytime soon.

Sid Tolchin, a resident of Hendersonville, North Carolina, joined the military right after he finished medical school and served for 35 years. He told WLOS that it gave him the opportunity to travel the world and he made many memories along the way.

His affinity for flying began at a young age. His first flight was on a light aircraft called a Piper Cub.

"I was selling defense stamps and bonds as a paperboy, and I won a prize, and it was in a Piper Cub, and that Piper Cub got me hooked," Tolchin said.

While serving in the Navy, he had the opportunity to fly many different types of airplanes and helicopters. He later acquired his own planes and continued to fly.

However, his insurance company stopped insuring him to fly when he was 88 years old.

He decided to give away his planes, but he wasn't ready to give up flying yet.

"Flying is like my psychiatrist. It's my therapy, so after two years, I found this one, a kit-built airplane," he said.

His new plane is an Aerolite, a plane that is not recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

"It weighs 264 pounds, and it has a single two-cylinder engine on it, which is 41 horsepower," he said.

He added that it is like a motorcycle in the air.

Tolchin said that flying keeps him young and prevents the "old man" from setting in.

"You don't stop flying because you get old. You get old because you stop flying," Tolchin said.

He also explained how flying makes him feel free.

"You get up in the air, and you escape gravity, and all of a sudden, you're having fun, and it takes you away from the ordinary things in life," he said.