A Halifax-area pilot is at it again with his touching tributes and sense of community.
Dimitri Neonakis has become well-known for lifting spirits through his artistic flight-routes over Nova Scotia.
In his latest effort, he took his plane for a spin to make a tribute in the sky for an eight-year-old boy who was shot and killed on Windmill Road in Dartmouth just before Christmas.
Lee-Marion Cain (Mar Mar) lived in North Preston and was shot while in a car on December 21.
Neonakis was asked to take to the skies and pay respect to the boy by a prominent member of the Black community in Halifax.
He did not disappoint.
In a two hour flight, he wrote “Mar” in the sky with a heart and line underneath his name.
Neonakis has used his small aircraft to leave messages of hope and inspiration on numerous occasions over past two years.
He’s swooped and dipped up images of Terry Fox, Carey Price and even Santa Claus.
It started in April 2020, when he took his plane in a heart shaped route above the community of Portapique in the days following the mass shooting that left 22 people dead.
He also wrote “Jenn” in the sky later that year to pay tribute to Captain Jenn Casey of the Snowbirds.
The Halifax native was killed in a tragic crash in British Columbia in 2020.
The flight route can be tracked on various platforms (such as Flight Radar) and then is often posted to social media by Neonakis or other aviation enthusiasts that spot him in the air.
