'Takes you away from the ordinary things in life': 91-year-old says flying keeps him young

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — One North Carolina man continues to show that age is just a number when it comes to pursuing your passions.

Sid Tolchin, a retired U.S. Navy Captain, has continued to soar through the mountains. At 91 years old, Sid said that life is just getting started.

He joined the service just out of medical school and served 35 years. He said the Navy took him all over the world and left him with memories he'll never forget.

Sid moved to Hendersonville with his wife just two years ago, where he found a great aviation group to be a part of. His passion for flying began long ago as he remembered being a paperboy during World War II.

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," he expressed.

A Piper Cub, a light aircraft, was where Sid rode on his first flight, and little did he know that would take him on a 70-year journey of flying.

He explained how he flew all different types of planes and helicopters while serving and that it was an exciting time.

A few years ago, at the age of 88, Sid said that the insurance company decided to stop insuring him to be able to fly. He had multiple planes to his name over the years, but when he found out he would no longer be insured, he decided to give his planes away.

After Sid decided to leave flying in the past, it wasn't long before he realized that he wasn't ready to give it up.

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

That's where the Aerolite was born just a little more than a year ago. An Aerolite is an aircraft that Sid said isn't recognized by the FAA.

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

He described it as being like a motorcycle in the air.

"We took it apart and brought it here, and all the guys here at Johnson Field and the Hendersonville Airport helped me put it together again, and it's flying," he explained.

For Sid, it's about the freedom that flying provides.

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 expressed.

Sid said that he hadn't lived his whole life yet and that it was about not letting the "old man" in. He said that flying keeps him young.

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

For Sid, it's especially surreal to be living in what he considers "God's Country" and being able to fly here in the mountains.

"It's a community, it's a brotherhood and very much like the military, which I miss very much," he said.