By Terry Karkos,Staff Writer

BETHEL – Craig Davis was flying high Friday as he took the controls of a helicopter headed to the Maine coast.

“After today, I can die peacefully,” said the 52-year-old Bethel native who is struggling to live with the effects of radiation that have nearly killed him after it killed his leukemia five years ago.

The virtual reality pilot taught himself to fly using Microsoft’s Flight Simulator software on his home computer. With it, he flies all kinds of aircraft – jumbo jets, planes, helicopters and even a Blue Angel F/A 18 Hornet – all over the world. But his favorites have been Huey helicopters, and his longtime dream was to fly a real helicopter himself.

But the prospect of it was unlikely because his medications prevented him from finishing the solo flight portion of his pilot license test and getting his license.

His childhood friend, Byron Lapham, 52, of Albany Township, learned about his buddy’s dream and tracked down Maine Helicopters Inc. in Whitefield. Then, Lapham’s friends Bethel police Chief Alan Carr and fire Chief James Young asked their crews for donations to pay for the flight for the son of Bethel’s former fire chief, Robert Davis.

Lapham sprang the surprise on Davis on Thursday and drove him to Whitefield on Friday morning.

“I was flabbergasted,” Davis said. He said he was still on Cloud 9 when he stepped through the large bay door and saw five real helicopters.

“This is my wildest dream come true. I’ve always had a passion for helicopters,” he said.

Maine Helicopters owner Mark Stinson and others pushed a 206B Bell Jet Ranger outside onto the tarmac, and Davis and his daughter, Kate Saunders, of Auburn got in, followed by pilot Frank Kopp.

On lifting off, Kopp headed for the Maine coast for a 45-minute trip; for 35 of those minutes, Davis was flying the machine by himself.

“I kept it on the altitude and speed pretty damn consistent. The only big difference between the simulation and it was the feeling and scenery,” he said.

Back on the ground, his mom, Polly Davis, and two aunts, Arlene Lowell and Rebecca Kendall, all of Bethel, waited.

“He knows that his life is limited, but thank goodness he still has his mental faculties,” Polly Davis said. “His lungs are going to give out first. It’s rejection-related, a result of the transplant,” she added, her voice quavering and tears welling.

Craig Davis was diagnosed with leukemia in 1999 and underwent a bone marrow transplant in 2000.

“I had radiation that equaled sitting in the center of the A-bomb blast at Hiroshima. I went in white and came out golden brown,” said Davis of his skin color.

The treatment radiation gave him diabetes, lung disease and neuropathy, a nerve disease in his feet .

When Davis stepped out of the helicopter Friday, he looked at his mom, aunts and Lapham, and said, beaming, “I’ll remember that my whole life! Who needs Oprah? I don’t need Oprah to make my dreams come true!”