Although he exited the aircraft at Ault Field Saturday, Fred Wilmot’s feet still haven’t touched the ground.

Thirty-seven years removed from his days of flying jets in the Navy, the retired captain was among the honored guests of Whidbey Island Naval Air Station’s Prowler Sunset Celebration last week.

The three-day event paid tribute to the EA-6B Prowler and its retirement after 45 years of service in the U.S. Navy from its home base in Oak Harbor.

Wilmot enjoyed the best seat in the house during a base open house Saturday.

From the backseat, he was among a crew of four aboard the final operational flight of a Navy EA-6B Prowler, which wowed a crowd of about 4,000 with a series of flyovers.

Never in his wildest dreams did the 77-year-old Wilmot expect he’d get a chance to put on a g-suit again to handle the jet’s high levels of acceleration force and keep him from losing consciousness.

However, the Navy approved Wilmot being part of the day’s final flight into the sunset because of his historic ties to the Prowler.

Wilmot was one of the Prowler’s original pilots and delivered the first aircraft to NAS Whidbey in January, 1971.

“I was very honored to have the opportunity to be a part of it,” said Wilmot, who lives in Oak Harbor. “It was fitting from the standpoint that I was the pilot who brought the first airplane out from the Grumman site (in Calverton, N.Y.) where it was built in January of ‘71.”

Wilmot called the experience “exhilarating.

“I had never flown in the backseat before,” he said. “I thought, ‘Well, we’ll see what I did to my crewmen back here when the airplane bends around.’ I was not disappointed.”

“He’s just over the moon,” his wife, Vicki Wilmot, said.

The Prowler sunset event drew nearly 1,000 former crewmembers and their families from across the country.

They came to witness the end of era and the start of a new one.

The EA-18G Growler is replacing the Prowler as the Navy’s newest, sleekest version of electronic attack aircraft.

The Marine Corps will continue to fly Prowlers but not out of Whidbey.

“It’s bittersweet,” said NAS Whidbey Commanding Officer Michael Nortier, a former helicopter pilot.

“We’re bidding farewell to the Prowler and the men and women that have flown and maintained those aircraft. But by the same token, it’s a flight into the sunset that really kind of represents the next chapter and that’s the Growler community and the folks that are going to continue that fight and provide the capability for our nation.”

The base was opened to the public Saturday for the open house inside two hangars and the flight line and for the ceremonial sendoff.

The first flyover consisted of a Prowler with two Growlers outside of its wings.

The Prowler later made a solo pass and landed to let Wilmot off, then took off again to leave Whidbey for the final time and head to NAS Point Mugu in Oxnard, Calif.

“You move on but you don’t forget,” said Capt. Darryl Walker, the base’s VAQ Wing commodore and former Prowler navigator. “You always have those fond memories.”

A ceremony Friday included a memorial tribute to the Prowler and its crewmembers and maintainers who died in defense of their country.

A missing-man formation flyby was part of that ceremony.

As part of Saturday’s open house, all of NAS Whidbey’s aircraft were on display with aviators answering the public’s questions.

Two hangars were open filled with information booths with representatives from the base and community.

It was the second year in a row that NAS Whidbey held an open house. It is something the base is trying to make an annual event during the summer, said Mike Welding, the base’s public information officer.

Tabb Stringer, commanding officer of VAQ-129, said it dawned on him that although the Prowler is retiring, many of the special people that have been part of the venerable aircraft remain as evidenced by last week’s show of support.

“It’s sad to see it go but it’s also nice that everybody came out and showed that they’re still a family,” Stringer said.

“Whether you flew the Prowler or whether you’re flying the Growler, it’s all part of the same big family.”

That sort of bond brought Tony Bostain to Oak Harbor from Tacoma. He said he worked on the Prowler for 24 years while in the Navy and with the Navy Reserve.

“I worked on it so long,” Bostain said. “I guess you consider it kind of like family to some extent.”

“It was my start in aviation,” said Puyallup’s Tom Wertman, who served in the Navy from 1985-89 and now works for Alaska Airlines. “It’s what brought me to Washington.

“It’s the first airplane I worked on. It was my only military service. It was great to come up here.”

“To hear that airplane again, it sounded great.”