Paradise vet takes flight on Miss Montana

One Paradise resident enlisted as a soldier during World War II, but the only action she saw was transporting Nazi prisoners of war to and from work details in California. On Friday, however, she hitched a ride in an aircraft that was built in 1944, the same year she went into the military.

John Haines, a former Plains resident, knew that 99-year-old Betty Meyer was a veteran of the second World War and he wanted to do something special for her. He was one of the volunteers involved in the restoration of Miss Montana, which was first designated a C-47 for the military, then later as a DC-3 and served as a smokejumper plane until its retirement. It was eventually restored by volunteers of the Museum of Mountain Flying in Missoula and named Miss Montana to honor the men of Montana who served during World War II.

The Miss Montana had already been scheduled Friday for a flyover over the ranch of Bill and Helen Meadows of Trout Creek for a special outdoor documentary involving the Miss Montana. An exhibition jump was planned with veteran skydiver Al Charters of Missoula to parachute to the site. Haines called Kelly Altmiller, Meyer's granddaughter in Plains, and asked if her grandmother would like a courtesy ride on the near 80-year-old aircraft. "She was thrilled and we're here to honor veterans of all our conflicts," said Haines.

Meyer jumped at the chance to get a ride on the aircraft. "It was so much fun. It was wonderful. I always wondered what was on top of the mountains on the south side of the river," said Meyer. "We were so close I thought I could just reach out and touch them." Meyer's relatives gathered at the museum at the Missoula airport to see her off, including Altmiller, her husband, Jason, son, Hunter, and daughters Kylee and Kara, along with Meyer's daughter, Linda Tibbles, and son-in-law, Mike Mayes. Meyer's granddaughter, Christina Kraus traveled from Beaverton, Oregon, and accompanied Meyer on the fight.

"I was treated like Queen Elizabeth, and Elizabeth is my real name," said Meyer, who has flown numerous times and worked for the Boeing Company for 26 years before retiring in 1987 and returning to Paradise, where she grew up. However, she had never flown on a military aircraft.

Before the flight, she chatted with Charters, who spent 29 years in the Army and has logged an estimated 13,700 parachute jumps. The 67-year-old Charters was among those who parachuted into Normandy, France, for the 75th anniversary of D-Day in 2019. His wife, Kim Maynard, was a Forest Service smokejumper for 10 years. The two parachuted to their wedding in Issaquah, Washington, 26 years ago. Charters asked Meyer if she'd like to switch roles with him, but she declined. "You can take any one of those over there," he said, pointing to a variety of old parachutes in the museum. "I don't think so. I've never wanted to jump out of a perfectly good airplane," she said. But Meyer was impressed with the aircraft. "That plane has been through so much and the restoration is just so miraculous," she said.

Meyer said the one and a half hour flight was wonderful. Her only regret was not seeing Charters as he jumped. Just prior to leaving the plane, he gave her a thumbs up and she returned the gesture. Meyer has flown numerous times, but this was her first in an aircraft of this style, which was a little like flying in history itself, she said. "I've been in planes before, but I never flew in anything like that," she said. " I think it was wonderful. The seats aren't very comfortable, but they did a remarkable job on the restoration. It's in such good shape and flies so well."

She was surprised that the pilot was Art Dykstra of Thompson Falls. Meyer grew up with several members of the Dykstra family and was a school classmate of the late June Dykstra. Dykstra and his copilot, Randy Schonemann, flew the plane over Paradise so Meyer could get a bird's eye view of her house. Though she couldn't make it out, she was sure her granddaughter got photos of it for her.

Before the flight, Meyer and her family members posed for several pictures with Miss Montana. They even shot photos of Kraus atop the aircraft's wing afterward. Meyer found out later that day that her daughter, Kathy Gorham, saw Miss Montana overhead, pulled her vehicle to the side of the road, got out and waved, thinking her mother would see her.

Meyer was pleased with her time in Miss Montana and said she'd do it again if offered. "At this old age I never thought I'd do anything like that."