On Tuesday morning, a pilot left Halifax International Airport at 11:27 a.m. Atlantic Daylight Time headed to Debert, a small farming town just north of the capital city of Nova Scotia.
Normally a 10-minute hop, more or less (a journey of 37 miles, to be exact), the plane arrived at its destination at 1:50 p.m. local time, two hours and 23 minutes later, having traveled 354 miles. Kind of an alarming setup, until you check his flight path -- which completed an incredibly faithful recreation of the Blue Jays’ logo.
It probably won’t come as a shock to hear that this particular pilot, Dimitri Neonakis, is already a local celebrity, both for his very particular form of artistry and his giving spirit. He may actually be better known in the region for his Dream Wings initiative, through which he’s taken hundreds of kids dealing with a wide range of disabilities and childhood illnesses on flights around the area.
The “drawings,” so to speak -- described to Skies Magazine in 2022 as “hand flown,” all completed without the aid of autopilot -- are a newer hobby. What’s become a larger project originally started in April 2020, when Neonakis traced a heart over the town of Portapique in the wake of a series of attacks that claimed the lives of 22 people, 13 of whom were residents of the community.
Many of his flight paths since have also paid tribute to victims of local tragedies and their loved ones; others have commemorated more joyous occasions, like Christmas, Mother’s Day, or, say, the Blue Jays’ first trip to the American League Championship Series in 10 years.
So, sure, the Blue Jays arrived in Seattle on Tuesday morning facing the famously difficult task of digging out of an 0-2 series deficit on the road, but if this one pilot has reminded us of anything ahead of Wednesday's Game 3, it's that Canadians are capable of some truly remarkable things.