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Documentary
tells remarkable story of one of Canton's bravest
By Jay Turner
Citizen Staff
James “Jay”
Consalvi was just three days old and had not even been home yet
when his father, who had owned a general aviation business out
of Norwood Airport, took him on his first plane ride.
A Canton
native, he was a fourth grader attending St. John’s the first
time he saw Top Gun, the movie that would inspire his
dream to become a fighter pilot; and by the time he was in high
school at Xaverian Brothers, he was working toward getting his
pilot’s license.
 But as much
as it appeared that he was somehow destined to fly, not even
Consalvi himself could have ever predicted the parallels that
would one-day lay ahead — between the Hollywood hit starring Tom
Cruise, and his own, remarkable journey to master the F-14
Tomcat.
For Consalvi,
now 27, has become a naval flight instructor at Miramar in San
Diego, the same location where Cruise’s character, Maverick,
chose to remain as an instructor at the end of Top Gun.
And like Maverick, Consalvi also happens to be the star of an
acclaimed film that chronicles his quest to become a top naval
aviator — only this one is real.
The film, a
documentary called Speed and Angels, follows Consalvi and
another young pilot named Meagan, from their dogfight training
in the Nevada desert to their wartime deployment to Iraq, as
they chase their childhood dreams to fly the F-14 while
overcoming major obstacles in the process.
Although not
scheduled for release until September 2008, Speed and Angels
recently wowed audiences at the Newport International Film
Festival in Rhode Island, where it received the audience award
for best documentary.
“Everybody
just loved the film,” said Consalvi, who spent the weekend at
the festival with his mother, Jane, the assistant treasurer
collector for the town of Canton. “Some people watched it two
and three times. It was so cool.”
Even
Consalvi, who prefers to downplay his accomplishments, appeared
to be moved by the majesty of the film, noting that it has “some
of the best Tomcat footage ever.” More importantly, he said, the
movie is also deeply personal, reaching viewers who are not
necessarily aviation or military enthusiasts.
 “This movie
was never made to be a poster for the Navy,” he said. “It was
never made to be a recruiter film. Yeah, it was about fledgling
fighter pilots; but the theme of the whole movie was people
going out and working really hard to make their dreams come
true.”
Admitting
her mother’s bias, Jane Consalvi could not agree more. She said
the film was “done wonderfully,” and she was amazed how her son,
who she described as “very low-key,” appeared to be so
comfortable on camera talking about some of the challenges he
has faced in his life, including the one she refers to as,
simply, “his accident.”
***
Born
on the 4th of
July in 1980, Consalvi was called the “miracle baby” by his
mother, after she had had such a difficult time getting
pregnant.
It was why
she was so nervous when her husband, Bob, decided to make a pit
stop at the airport on the way home from the hospital, and then
casually mentioned that he was going to take their new son up
for a ride. It certainly wasn’t the flying itself, as Jane had
actually met Bob while taking flying lessons at the very same
airport.
Tragically
for the Consalvis, Bob died of a massive heart attack when Jay
was only two and a half years old. Jane was left with no choice
but to raise her miracle baby on her own.
According to
his mother, Jay was “quite a normal boy” growing up, causing his
fair share of headaches; but he was always a hard worker, she
said, and he was humble and had good morals.
At Xaverian
Brothers, he thrived, earning good grades while also pursuing
his dream of becoming a pilot. He was also focused on earning
acceptance to his first-choice school: the United States Naval
Academy.
But then the
accident happened.
During the
summer before his senior year, on the night before Canton’s
bicentennial celebration, Jay was shot in the face at a party.
As he describes it in the documentary, he had only been there
for “about five minutes” when a Marine pulled out two handguns
and insisted he knew what he was doing.
Explains one
Lt. Commander in Speed and Angels: “From eight inches
away, a 40 caliber hollow point, comes in, nicks his lip, knocks
out five of his teeth, explodes his tongue, and lodges in his
spine after it goes through his carotid artery.”
It was
without question an accident, but it left him clinging to life
and threatened everything he had hoped to be, just a week before
he was to turn 17.
Jane said
the doctors were “just amazed that he survived.” From there,
they began the difficult road to recovery, not the least of
which was convincing the Department of Defense that his body
could still handle the rigors of flying.
***
Consalvi’s
aviator call sign is “faceshot,” a constant reminder of that
brief moment that could have killed him, but ultimately made him
stronger.
To him, just
about everything is “not that big of a deal,” whether it’s
surviving an accident, or being the subject of a powerfully
moving documentary. Yet he is also grateful — grateful that the
Navy decided to give him a chance despite real concerns with his
health, and grateful that he has had the opportunity to serve
his country as a fighter pilot, offering tangible help to
soldiers in need.
In all,
Consalvi has served two tours in Iraq. He said it is not
something that bothers him to talk about because he was just
doing his job, and one that he is proud to have done.
There was
one moment, in particular, that he said made it all worthwhile.
A convoy was disabled on the ground and was getting shot at from
all sides. He came in to provide support from the air, and by
the time he was flying out of there, the men on the ground were
safely heading home.
Consalvi and
his fellow pilots had saved their lives.
“If I don’t
do anything else in the Navy,” he said, “that made it all worth
it.”
Consalvi,
meanwhile, is already doing more. He is in San Diego, training
future fighter pilots — Marines, in fact — to fly the F-18
Hornet, and he is touching lives with his remarkable story in
Speed and Angels.
“He’s living
his dream,” marveled his mother, after watching him up on the
big screen in Newport. “How many people get to live their
dream?”
June 12, 2008
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