A Nova Scotia pilot’s use of an aircraft for social commentary is again drawing worldwide attention. In his latest use of live tracking software, Dmitri Neonakis used his Cirrus SR22 to trace the image of a raised fist over his home province in a tribute to George Floyd, the Minneapolis man killed in an encounter with police there almost two weeks ago. Video showed Floyd pinned to the ground by a Minneapolis police officer with his knee on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes and his death has prompted widespread protests and calls for change all over the world.
Neonakis said he chose the symbol associated with the Black Power movement in the 1960s and 1970s because it is the modern day representation of the fight against racism. “We all have to speak out and we have to end it,” Neonakis said. “There are no borders when it comes to racism.” Neonakis first attracted attention for his tracing of a heart over Nova Scotia in the aftermath of the mass killing of 22 people in Nova Scotia in April. The fist was a next-level adaptation of that effort and it took more than two hours to fly the pattern at a cruising speed of 130 knots.