Ready for takeoff: Pilot Dustin Stone celebrates new Osage SkyNews 6 helicopter

We’re showing our new and improved Osage SkyNews 6 all this week. While the helicopter and the technology are new, the pilot isn't.

Dustin Stone has worked at News On 6 for almost 25 years, and he couldn't be more excited about the new helicopter.

"Oh man, it's so exciting. I'm ready to go. I'm ready," he said.

For Pilot Dustin Stone, the new Osage SkyNews 6 is the latest step in a career that's taken him higher than he ever imagined.

"I started at Channel 6 back in 2000," he said. "I was 20 years old, married with no kids. Now my oldest is 24 and my youngest is 18. So I've seen a little bit of all of it in my almost 25 years here."

Dustin didn't start out planning to take off.

"Started as a master control operator, videotape operator, and then I ran audio for the morning show, and then started working in the live trucks, traveled the country in the satellite truck," he said. "They finally tapped me on the shoulder and let me fly the helicopter."

By the time he sat in the cockpit, Dustin had spent many hours in the air as a photographer in the chopper.

"I remember my first or second flight, I asked the pilot then, 'What does it take to get your job?' And he took it well. He told me, he said, 'You got to do these things.' A week later, I said, 'I've done those things and I'm starting training because I want your job.'"

It would take years of studying, training, practicing and waiting before his sky-high dreams would be realized.

"It was about 12 years from the time I made that decision to the time I actually got to fly this helicopter. The whole time I'm in the back seat running the camera," he said.

Now, each time he lifts off, he's reminded of what it took to land the job.

"This is not a career path I would suggest for someone. There's one job in the whole city, and you want it, so throw all your eggs in that basket. I just had faith it would work out, and it did."

A lot of exciting things are happening in Dustin's life these days... he's expecting his first grandchild this fall.