Mountain Flying Bible
Wedding
by Herb Lingl
Gary “Padre” McDonald –
infamous mountain flyer and part-time outlaw Padre – performed a
wedding ceremony April 27, 2008, at San Francisco’s Crissy Field,
relying solely on Sparky Imeson’s
Mountain Flying Bible to
guide him through the often rough terrain that can be matrimony, on
a day that fortunately brought blue skies and no down-drafts.
Padre, in a rush to get to San Francisco, couldn't find his Bible,
so he grabbed his other Bible (Basic
Information Before
Leaving Earth).
The couple, Akiko Ikeda and
Yasushi Kamakura, picked San Francisco
as the venue for their wedding at the suggestion of Akiko’s father,
Hiro Ikeda, a pilot who owns a Mooney based at
Yamagata airport in Japan. Ikeda san
contacted San Francisco-based Naomi Hirooka in late 2007, and
mentioned his desire to have the ceremony performed in
San Francisco. Naomi and her friend Herb
Lingl, a professional photographer, scouted possible locations for
the wedding and ultimately decided on the stunning natural setting
at San Francisco’s Crissy Field in
the San Francisco Presidio (Golden Gate) National Park. They felt it was an
appropriate location from a pilot’s view, as it was originally
"Crissy Airfield” at the Presidio Army Base before becoming Crissy Field.
Naomi and Herb were also
charged with finding a pastor to conduct the ceremony. They chose
Petaluma-based Gary McDonald because they knew his easy-going
personality would put the limited English-speaking couple at ease,
and felt his extensive flying experience would be interesting for
the bride’s father (they made a point of not mentioning the “outlaw”
part to the wedding party prior to the event.)
After the ceremony, Akiko, Yashushi and
Padre posed for this photograph with the Mountain Flying Bible,
noting "We knew we would have been in trouble if the Padre hadn't
brought his Bible along."
