Boise - Greg Poe, one of the greatest aerobatic pilots to ever take flight, dedicated the final years of his life to changing lives for young people.
The Boisean did it through a program he designed called Elevate Your Life, born out of the loss of his own son. A program that, even without its creator, is still very much alive and still flying high.
"This is the most amazing thing I have ever done in my life!" said Mariah, a 7th grader from Rexburg as she sat in the back of a stunt plane doing pirouettes, barrel rolls and loops.
For the young people fortunate enough to take flight with the Elevate Your Life program, it is a transformative experience. The message of inspiration and motivation through aviation helps them realize no dream is too big.
"If you apply yourself, it’s kind of amazing what you can really accomplish," Poe told KTVB back in 2009.
The program was born out of tragedy when Poe's 20 year old son, Ryan, lost a long battle with drug addiction.
“If we can do this the rest of our lives and we can say that we saved or made a difference in one life that it would all be worthwhile and of course that one life was Ryan," said Russ Poe, Greg's brother.
But the end of his life would come sooner than anyone could imagine.
In July of 2011, Greg Poe suffered a heart attack while riding his dirt bike. The legendary stunt pilot from Boise, known around the world as the best in the business of flying and inspiring, was gone.
His family wondered how a program that was so much a part of the fabric of their beloved father, brother and leader could continue without him.
"When we lost Greg it was like losing the lead singer of the band," Russ said.
The answer on whether the program would or could continue came in the form of a world-class pilot from Logan, Utah by the name of Brad Wursten.
"If you watch Brad fly it’s just like watching Greg fly," said Russ.
A friend and fellow stunt pilot at many of the air shows Poe flew in, Wursten never hesitated when he was approached to fill the shoes and the cockpit of his mentor.
"I love to see people make something of their life," he said. "I like to see people stay clean and that’s how we got started with it."
Wursten has been flying as many as 10 air shows a year for the last eight years. And he carries on the "Elevate Your Life" program at nearly every stop, taking kids on the ride of their lives.
"It’s pretty awesome actually," he told KTVB. "To see the enthusiasm with these young kids, it’s remarkable. You get that, never in a million years would some of these kids be able to do that."
"We're in the business of inspiring the youth and trying to inspire them to have a dream," added Russ. "And airplanes are the perfect metaphor for dreams."
A metaphor for a program that is still soaring as high and as big as the spirit of the man who started it all, and a team who refused to allow it to be grounded.