During World War II, when Sam Fenati was 4 years old a beloved Uncle entered the Army Air Corps. The Uncle became a B-17 Crew Chief in the Pacific. The Uncle's stories after the war began Sam?€™s lifelong fascination with and love of airplanes. Throughout his childhood he dreamed of a career in aviation.

In High School he often went to the hometown airport in New Castle, PA to watch planes taking off and landing (a favorite pastime to this day). He went with a friend and his sister. They pooled their money and persuaded him to take a flight. That first flight in a rickety, old plane convinced Sam that flying had to be in his future.

At Penn State University he joined the Airforce ROTC and was slated to go into flight training. Two weeks before graduation, he learned he no longer had 20-20 vision, so he could no longer be a candidate to become an AF pilot. A huge disappointment.

In the Air Force, he was accepted into a state-of-the-art program at Offutt AFB combining intelligence gathering with new computer functionality. The Air Force at that time also encouraged all personnel to learn to fly. Taking advantage of that opportunity Sam got his private pilot?€™s license while serving at Offutt. After leaving the Airforce, he used his GI benefits to get his Instrument Rating and his Commercial Pilot?€™s license.

He joined the Civil Air Patrol in Montgomery County MD. The Civil Air Patrol does search and rescue missions for downed airplanes. They also fly over the Chesapeake Bay in the summer to spot boats in trouble. Sam was also a member of the Congressional Flying Club, the oldest flying club in the country.

He used club planes to take his family on flying adventures. His children grew up flying to see grandparents in western Pennsylvania and Florida. The family also took flying trips up and down the east coast. They went as far west as St. Louis and into Canada.

For a while he owned a Beech Bonanza. After he sold his plane, he continued to fly rented planes until a disability required him to give up flying in 2005.

His three children learned to love flying. One of his sons, Richard, soloed at age 16 and is a commercial airline pilot today.

Sam's wife loved the flying trips too. She remembers one time when flying into the DC area they were vectored toward the mountains in Virginia. The clouds formed a huge arch above them. The sun was setting behind the mountains at the far end of that arch and the clouds were a brilliant pink. The plane by comparison was a tiny speck flying through the gigantic arch. It was an unforgettable spiritual moment.

Sam is a practical man with two feet on the ground, his eyes towards the skies and a song in his heart. And flying for him has always been a way to "touch the face of God."