| By Bob Weaver
The first time I rode in a plane with "Five Dollar Frank," I was
warned he was a trickster
who might grab his chest, draw a long breath and slump over the stick
saying "Can you fly
this plane?" Frank Thomas was a bigger than life kind of guy. Last
Bridge Day, waiting to fly
at the Fayette Airport which he operated for 61 years, he stood by the
fence and quoted
classic poems while sipping coffee. "You wouldn't want me to go to
sleep up there, would
you?" he asked.
He was feisty and outspoken. Opinions flowed from his mouth. He
commented on the latest
batch of candidates running for President, none of them in politically
correct terms. I asked
the hard-of-hearing Frank, at the top of my lungs, if he could tell if
the engine stopped. He
said "I'm sure I could hear the sound of the crash."
Frank was known for flying his steadfast old plane underneath the
Gorge Bridge, a feat for
which he was called to task. He didn't seem to mind. He also landed on
the four-lane. I
asked if he would fly under the Gorge Bridge on Bridge Day with
200,000 people walking
around on the span. "How much money will you pay?" he asked.
The "Five Dollar" nickname came from his fee for flying tourists
around the area for over 60
years. "I never raised my price (from sixty years ago)," he said. He
had taught over
one-thousand aspiring students to fly. He was an avid churchgoer and
longtime scoutmaster
who authored several books of his life stories and lots of poetry. He
loved poetry.
Frank recited poetry for customers
When last I wrote about Frank, I suggested you get on down to
Fayetteville and meet him. I
hope a few of you did. He was a unique character and a fine man. His
body will be taken to
his old airplane hanger for visitation Monday evening, where his
funeral will be conducted at
11 a.m. Tuesday.
Frank tells a flyin' story, Bridge Day 2000
I am grateful to my Fayetteville friend Larry Slayton for introducing
me to Five Dollar, which
gave me the opportunity of taking my friends on a real airplane ride
these past years.
A birds eye view of Bridge Day | 
