HAYDEN - Bill Stookey jovially calls himself "air-minded and lightheaded."

The 90-year-old Hayden resident and World War II veteran has logged more than 38,000 hours as a pilot. It all began when he was 8. He was at the fair with his parents in 1931 in Macomb, Ill., and saw an open-cockpit World War I Curtiss Jenny. He asked his parents if he could go for a ride.

"After WWI, those guys that had been pilots wanted something to do, so they'd pick up the airplanes that were left and fly them around the country," Stookey said. "They called them barnstomers."

His folks said yes, and Stookey's life unfolded among the clouds.

"I think that's what started me off," he said.

Stookey can clearly remember that day. He continued to build model airplanes, attended flight school and spent three years as an Army Air Corps pilot and 35 years as a commercial pilot. He was a captain for 32 of those years.

Although he's retired, flying is still a large part of his life. His daughter even became a flight attendant. He said he loves the feeling of "being able to get up in the air, having control and being up off the Earth, when you're all by yourself."

Stookey retired from his airline career in 1983. He underwent open-heart surgery last May and walks with a cane, but at the age of 90, his mind and memories are as clear as the air he soared through as a young man in the Army and as a well-established captain.