Clem Collins of Locust Grove has always had his eyes fixed on the sky. 

  As a young kid, Collins recalls spending many a Saturday hanging over the fence at the Griffin-Spalding County Airport watching the incoming and departing planes with a sparkle in his eyes and a longing in his heart. His childhood dream was to fly a Boeing B-47.

  “I was there all the time. I was always hanging out at the airport in Griffin and [one day] the manager came up and said ‘Boy, would you like to learn to fly?’ It was so strange,” said Collins. “I said, ‘Of course I do!’ I thought he was joking.”

  In exchange for working at the airport, Collins was given flying lessons in an Aeronca Champion from airport manager, Earnie Knight. Collins was 16 at the time and began to fly before he even got his driver’s license.

  “The first time I ever went off the ground, I looked down and said ‘It’s a lot like I thought it would be.’ It’s magic,” he said. “I was never fearful. It’s total freedom.” 

  His first solo flight took place on February 9, 1957 after months of flight instruction. 

  On August 15, 1958, he conducted his first cross country flight from Griffin, GA to Cape Canaveral navigating with a compass, a watch, and a paper map.

  Shortly after his solo and cross country flights, he received his private pilot license. 

  Collins believes himself to be the first Black pilot in Henry County. 

  “Any other first Black pilot [in Henry County] before 1958 better come forward now because I’m going to claim it,” laughed Collins.

  He describes flying as something he knew he wanted to do from an early age.

  “It was an instinct to fly, even before I went to first grade. I must have some avian genes or something. I’m serious,” he said.

  According to Collins, his family thought he was “crazy,” his dreams of flight deemed outlandish.

  However, he spent the rest of his life chasing his dreams of becoming a pilot. 

  Following high school, in 1958, he went to college at Tuskegee University to study mechanical engineering, also hoping to receive flight instruction from the university. 

  He worked at John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital in Tuskegee as a janitor for two years, paying his way through school. But when he could no longer afford college, Collins joined the United States Air Force and was sent to school for electronics.

  He was hoping to enroll in the Air Force’s pilot training program, but he passed the program’s age limit of 27 and was no longer eligible. 

  After spending four years in the Air Force, Collins went to Northeastern University in Boston to study liberal arts, where he finally graduated.

  While studying at Northeastern University, he was also pursuing his dream of becoming a commercial pilot.

  “The airlines are still open until age 35. So here I am, going back and forth to college and flying school in Boston to get my license,” said Collins.

  However, that age deadline passed as well. But, he did manage to get his commercial pilot license and his flight instructor license. 

  Collins states that his is “not a success story,” as he didn’t achieve his goal of becoming an airline pilot. 

  “It was a long road. I didn’t reach my goal,” he said. “But I did manage to fly for 60 years nonstop.”

  He eventually purchased his own Cessna-150 in 1987, resolving to continue his dream of flying on his own.

  “I’ve been flying that airplane for almost 40 years,” said Collins.

  After spending time in the military, Collins worked in computers for companies like Sylvania, Honeywell, Digital, and retired from Panasonic after 40 years. 

  Since then, he has spent time with his family, flying whenever he was able. 

  However, he still holds fond memories of his lifetime of flight, having recorded over 2,000 hours of flight time over the years. 

  Collins still has his original logbook from 60 years ago that he purchased for 35 cents logging his flights from 1956-1958.

  One of his logbooks includes a signature from Charles Alfred Anderson, Sr., the chief flight instructor of the Tuskegee Airmen, who signed the book while Collins was studying at Tuskegee University.

  Although Collins has not flown in two years, he hopes to get back up in the sky sometime soon.

  “If God is great, I’ll get back in the sky again,” he said. “This feeling is not going to go away. I know that. It’s always going to be there.”