Father and son bond over airplane-themed homemade rollercoaster
By Conor McCue
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BRIGHTON, Colorado (KCNC) — A veteran and longtime pilot is setting parenting expectations sky high after a video posted on social media by Southwest Airlines shows him bonding with his son over the airplane-themed rollercoaster they built together in their backyard.
At the Brazelton home outside Brighton, the idea of fun is reaching new heights every day. No matter how many twists and turns he endures, 3-year-old West can’t seem to get enough.
“We basically go until I get tired because he never gets tired of it,” Scott Brazelton said of West.
The wood and PVC pipe rollercoaster standing in the family’s backyard is the culmination of months of hard work and ingenuity. At 9.5-feet high and 200-feet long, it was a true father-son project from the start.
“When they’re 3 years old, they don’t help that much, but they’ll help paint, or they’ll hand you some tools, and it’s just a neat way to bond,” Brazelton said.
It’s also a labor of love he’s done before, building his first coaster five years ago for his older son, Wyatt.
“I’d carry it over there, and my dad would put it on, so that was a fun part of it,” Wyatt said.
“It’s just so much more fun than a treehouse for a kid because they don’t have to use their imagination,” Scott said. “They’re just having fun the whole time.”
While Wyatt had a propeller plane, West chose something much more familiar. The striped tail and Southwest Airlines logo on the plane-shaped rollercoaster train are an ode to the planes his dad flies every day.
“West absolutely loves to travel, and he loves to fly, so when it came time for me to design the theming around this one, I said, ‘West, what do you want it to be? A car, a rocket ship?’ Brazelton explained. “He said, ‘No, I want it to be a Southwest plane!’”
Now West can’t get enough of his new, incredibly unique toy, taking to the skies even more than his dad.
“When they like it and the lightbulb goes on for them, that they have this in their yard, it’s a really rewarding feeling,” Brazelton said.
“You only live once, and you might as well do some crazy projects. My motto is, if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing. No regrets.”
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