Empty Hanger

Part of our fascination with Nickel Ross' age came from the fact that he was even still around. Nobody crashes an airplane five times over the course of a life. At least nobody who makes it to 83.

But that’s just what he did. Shot down twice in WWII. Busted a nose wheel in Korea. Clipped a wire during his crop dusting days out west. Then lost an engine on takeoff in the 80s “just to remember what it felt like.”

Five crashes.

Eighty-three years old.