When I was asked to write a memorial article about John Billings, I initially wasn’t sure what direction to take it in. After all, I’ve already written two articles about him, one of which was published in the December 2019 issue of AOPA Magazine and one for the 50th anniversary of Mercy Medical Angels in 2022. What could I write that hadn’t been written before? Turns out, my overthinking was making things more difficult than they needed to be. John Billings was a different kind of angel - the kind who doesn’t show up in blinding light and fanfare, but in a quieter way that still shows immense strength. And with that in mind, I knew exactly how to write about him. 

I first met John Billings at an event in May of 2018. I sat with him, his friend and “flying partner” Nevin Showman (I learned to never call them “co-pilots”) and some of the family members. John Billings was a true gentleman, with the energy of someone many years younger. He said to me of his love of flying with Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic: “Every hour in the air makes up for an hour on the ground.” After that, he added with a smile, “I get paid in hugs.” I felt like I was talking with an earth-bound angel, one who made up for his lost wings by becoming a pilot. 

As the event continued, John Billings received a series of special awards: sharing Pilot of the Year with Nevin Showman, a challenge coin from the Air Force Chief of Staff, and a special letter from Frank Borman, an Apollo 8 astronaut and former airline executive (which I had designed into a keepsake). He also received a historically accurate “blue uniform,” complete with the ribbons, medals, and insignia that John Billings earned from his time serving our country as a bomber pilot in WWII. This was the surprise of a lifetime! 

I remember how his jaw dropped into an open-mouthed grin, when he saw the blue uniform unveiled. I remember how he stood up from his chair and walked over to it, gently lifting the sleeve as if to check if this was real. I remember him needing a little help to put the jacket on, but he eventually got it. John Billings then talked a little about how he first came to love flying - his father took him for an airplane ride when he was three – and how far that early experience took him. This only seemed to confirm my theory that he was actually an angel. 

The next year, I sat with John Billings once again. He was a year older, moving a little slower due to health issues, but he hadn’t lost his sense of humor. He joked, “this is the VIP table.” That’s a tough claim to make when you have the former squadron leader of the U.S. Air Force’s aerobatic team (known to the public as the Thunderbirds) and other aviation experts present. After a while, I went up to the podium to sing the national anthem. When I looked out at the crowd, I saw something that almost brought tears to my eyes. John Billings still stood up and took his hat off for the national anthem, despite his declining mobility. He wasn’t going to let the limitations of his body get in the way of his limitless spirit. 

Fast forward to 2021. I hadn’t seen John Billings for two years straight due to the pandemic. Then, I received a video link in my work email. It was John Billings receiving the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award. He was 98 now, and because of his rapidly declining health, couldn’t safely man the controls of an airplane anymore. But he said he would still be in the cockpit for as long as he could. That was true to him. 

The year after, in 2022, I received news that John Billings had passed away. He had been flying for most of his life. At long last, he traded in his pilot wings for a set of angel wings. Part of me was sad. I was going to deeply miss the earth-bound angel of Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic. But another part of me was glad. Now, up in the bright eternal sky, John Billings could fly as much as he wanted. 

~Stephanie Singer, Communications Specialist for Mercy Medical Angels

More about John Billings’ life and legacy: 

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2019/december/pilot/pilots-john-billings 

https://www.mercymedical.org/john-billings-still-in-the-air 

https://www.mercymedical.org/a-promise-followed-through-a-letter-from-nevin-showman