Abby Tabor / Houma Courier

Mike Scott is strapped into 1970s-era Soviet fighter plane Sunday afternoon at the Houma-Terrebonne Airport with the help of plane owner Darryl Christen prior to taking flight.

His baseball cap was backward on his head, a headset firmly on his ear.

The hatch of the compact cockpit was locked in place.

He flashed family and friends a big thumbs-up.

A few minutes later, tucked into the rear seat of a shining red, white and blue fighter jet, Mike Scott was lifting off from the Houma-Terrebonne airport and feeling 2.5 G-forces bearing down on him.

When he clambered down from the two-seat Aero L-39 aircraft about 20 minutes later, his ear-to-ear smile didn’t leave much doubt as to how he felt about the experience.

"I enjoyed it," said Scott, 58, explaining he saw all of Houma from the air, spotting such landmarks as the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center and the Waterland USA water park on La. 311. "Real pretty."

A ride in the plane, which swooped over the runway twice and crossed the setting sun, was a special wish come true for Scott, a terminally ill cancer patient with St. Catherine’s Hospice.

The jaunt in the refurbished 1970s-era fighter plane, originally used for training pilots in the Soviet Union, was arranged with the help of Scott’s social worker, Bridget Leche.

His pilot was Houma aviator and lawyer Darryl Christen. About three dozen family members and friends from his biking club, Bayou Country Cyclists, showed up to watch the flight and cheer Scott on.

It was a special treat for a man who enjoys Discovery Channel shows about World War II fighter planes.

A native of Kansas City, Mo., Scott moved to Houma in the ’70s and worked as a welder for Gulf Island Fabrication and Applied Hydraulic Systems.

A fast-spreading variety of cancer, first detected in his throat, surfaced in 1994. Doctors don’t know what caused it; Scott never smoked.

The cancer was serious, but Scott beat the disease with radiation therapy and a laryngectomy operation, which lets him breathe through an opening in his neck.

But a month ago, the cancer returned on the other side of his throat.

This time it was inoperable and terminal. He tried chemotherapy treatments, but they were too debilitating, he said. Caregivers haven’t put a timeframe on his prognosis, but it’s not good, they say.

Instead of treatment, Scott opted for hospice care he receives at home. He still enjoys cycling, family and friends.

"I feel good," said Scott, 58. "I’ve had a good life. I’ve got a lot of good friends and a lot of support."

In addition to providing end-of-life care, the hospice offers patients the opportunity to make a wish come true, said Leche.

When Scott made the flight request, Leche said, "I told him, ëI’m not going to promise you, but I’m not going to stop till I get it.’ "

Christen said it’s difficult to arrange a flight in an active-military fighter jet, since the military isn’t too keen on visitors in its cockpits.

"This is about the only way you can get a ride in something similar," he said.

Christen, a flight instructor and pleasure pilot when he’s not busy with his Christen and Rhymes law practice, bought the plane about five years ago.

"I’m just thrilled to have the time to give an experience like this to someone," Christen said. "He’s well deserving of it."

In addition to his flight, Scott also got a special moment with his real-life co-pilot.

He posed for pictures in the jet’s cockpit with Marlene, his wife of 33 years.

The couple lost their 17-year old daughter, Christy, in 1995 to a congenital heart condition.

It’s the memory of her spirit and positive attitude that inspires them to cope with tough times, Marlene Scott said.

"We just have to be brave for her," she said.

And her husband doesn’t complain, Marlene Scott said.

"My grandmother used to tell us ëLife is like a roller coaster; you’ve got to take your ups and downs,’ " she said. "She was exactly right."

The one snag in the day: It was hard to hear Scott’s voice, made softer and less clear by the tracheal operation, on the cockpit microphone over the plane’s roar. But Scott and Christen made do with hand signals.

"I said ëIf you can give me a thumbs up, we’ll just keep going, ’ " Christen said. "And he just kept giving me the thumbs up."

Staff Writer Kathrine Schmidt can be reached at 857-2204 or kathrine.schmidt@houmatoday.com.