If you know where to look, there are secret Ole Miss spirit messages written over north Mississippi, all thanks to University of Mississippi alumnus and pilot Joshua Gregory.
Those who follow Gregory’s tail number, N6886W, on the FlightAware website or app have seen “HYDR,” “Ole Miss” and other flight path art, courtesy of Gregory’s passion.
Flying is something Gregory has wanted to do since he was young.
“I went on my very first flight, with my granddad, when I was 6,” he said. “He was an Air Force pilot, and I just got the bug and wanted it to be a part of my whole life.
“But I just let life happen and I never did it.”
After owning a business for about 15 years, Gregory reached a point where he decided to pursue his deferred dream.
“I was to the point where I just realized I want to go fly,” he said. “I went and took two lessons and said, ‘Yep, I like this,’ and I bought an airplane – nothing special, though; it was a Honda Civic with wings.”
He has been flying for six years now, acquiring the appropriate licenses, training and certifications. He is working toward becoming an airline pilot one day.
His love for Ole Miss and his need for logging 1,500 flight hours gave him an idea. Bored with flying in circles to accumulate those hours, Gregory decided to turn his flight patterns into art.
“You get tired of just flying circles, or over your house or your parents’ house 100 times, so this was something fun I could do,” he said. “I went up and did ‘HYDR’ in the sky, and I got a text message while flying saying they just happened to be watching FlightAware, and saw me doing it.”
The recognition was cool, Gregory said.
“It just got me excited about it, and it was something fun to do while building hours, and so I just started looking for more things to do,” he explained.
Some of his flight path art includes logo designs such as “ESPN” and messages to loved ones, including “HBD Dad.”
Most recently, his art highlighted the Rebels’ trip to the College World Series. On Tuesday (June 9) those following his flight path could see the four-plus-hour process of flying “OleMAHA” into existence.
“You can look up in the sky and you can see a plane fly by; you don’t have any idea what’s going on,” he said. “But if you watch my flight path, you can see it happening. It’s a lot like watching an Etch-a-Sketch.”
Gregory later shares the completed designs on his social media accounts.
He takes about two hours to design the flight path art using a combination of tools such as Microsoft Word and aviation software to create the “weightpoints,” or dots to connect, to bring the art to life. His “OleMAHA” design had 120 to 130 weightpoints.
The designs have begun to garner recognition.
“I had a comment from Memphis Air Traffic Control, coming back from a trip last month,” he said. “When we started talking, he said, ‘Hey, welcome back, 86 Whiskey, you doing any new artwork today?’ It was neat to be recognized by the Memphis ATC.”
Ole Miss football player Kewan Lacy has also recognized Gregory’s designs by requesting a special design: “BTA Lacy.” The pilot even has a special design planned for former coach Lane Kiffin come September.
“It’s really cool to be able to get feedback from fellow fans that are watching it, sharing it and saving it,” Gregory said.
He likens the feedback and support to cheers in the stands of an Ole Miss baseball or football game.
“It’s kind of like when you’re at the game and you’re cheering,” he said. “It’s a lot more exciting than when you’re sitting on your couch and you’re cheering, because you’re around people cheering with you.
“I feel that same way when I see the people engaging with my designs I put up on social media; it feels like I’m in the stands cheering with them”
Of course, one of those cheers is “Hotty Toddy.”
“I like the fact that ‘Hotty Toddy’ to everybody else doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “This is our thing. It’s a unique bond from two seemingly gibberish words that draw people together.
“It’s kind of like an inside knowledge thing of Ole Miss that is just a really cool.”