Blue Jays spirit is sky high for this Halifax pilot

CITYnews halifax / By Rachel Morgan

Halifax pilot Dimitri Neonakis has done it once again.

On Friday, prior to the first World Series game featuring the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers, he used his piloting skills to sketch the phrase “Let’s go Blue Jays” in the sky.

The flight path began at Halifax Stanfield International Airport before looping many times and landing at the Port Hawkesbury Airport.

The dramatic declaration may have proved good luck for the team who took home the win 11-4 in Game 1 after Blue Jays outfielder Addison Barger hit a grand slam in the sixth inning.

According the the MLB, it is the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history.

A pilot of 27 years, Neonakis drew a flight path of the Blue Jays logo during the series against the Mariners that brought the Jays back to the World Series for the first time since 1993.

“I wanted to cheer on the Blue Jays, I wanted to cheer the fans, I wanted to do it for myself,” he told The Canadian Press.

Sky high messages aren’t new for Neonakis. He says he has completed nearly 30 of these “sky drawings,” some in support of missing children or to honour people such as George Floyd, Terry Fox and Jennifer Casey, the Snowbirds member killed in a 2020 crash. He also does more fun drawing like sketching hearts or holiday greetings.

Game 2 of the Jays versus Dodgers takes place in Toronto Saturday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m EST.

– With files from The Canadian Press’ Fatima Raza