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Veterans Airlift Command

February 27, 2011 By Charles Stites

“They’ve got heart, they need wings.”

Of all the struggles wounded veterans face upon returning home, the least should be how to stay in touch with family when they must travel  for medical treatment. And that’s why Walt Fricke founded Veterans Airlift Command.

A wounded  warrior  and active pilot himself, Walt knew that other pilots would rally around the cause of providing  medical and compassionate flights for  wounded veterans and their families. With Fricke providing flight coordination through phone and website contact, over 1700 volunteer pilots have flown service members and their families throughout the country. Currently VAC’s priority is serving veterans of Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan).

In a fitting tribute to those who have served and sacrificed, Veterans Airlift Command flights are now recognized with the call sign “Hero Flight” by Air Traffic Control.

To learn more about the work of Walt Fricke and his organization, visit Veterans Airlift Command.

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Able Flight

February 24, 2011 By Charles Stites

(L-R) Able Flight pilots Jorge Urrea, Jake Jeter, Jessica Scharle, Brad Jones and Sean O'Donnell

Able Flight has been called a lot of things since I founded it in 2006, but perhaps my favorite came from one of our pilots when he anointed this unique aviation nonprofit as the “little engine that could”. In its first five years Able Flight has kept its focus on its mission with dogged determination and single-mindedness. We set out to use aviation to change the lives of people with physical disabilities, and through them, to change the lives and perceptions of others. And that we have done.

Six months after Able Flight went from idea to reality we awarded our first two scholarships, and six months later I watched Brad Jones’ parents crying tears of joy when their son taxied in from his FAA check ride as a newly-licensed pilot. People pass check rides every day, so what made this one so special? Because only a year earlier, at almost the same time Able Flight was born, Brad’ parents were called to a hospital where they saw him in an emergency room and heard the word “paralyzed”.

On the day Brad became a pilot, he proved something special to himself and everyone that knows him or has heard his story. Since then there have been other remarkable stories of people overcoming daunting challenges; a young woman born without arms who became a pilot flying with her feet, and a young man who is a quadriplegic, and yet still holds the Able Flight record for earning his license in the fewest hours.

Able Flight pilot Jessica Cox receives her Wings from Aviation Hall of Fame member Patty Wagstaff

There have been wounded veterans, people born with congenital birth defects, and those who must deal with the effects of a devastating illness or injury. Now they share something that makes them unique in aviation. They have a set of wings with the letters “AF” in the center. Only those Able Flight scholars who have earned their pilot’s license get to wear these wings; not me, nor our largest donor. And that’s the way it should be, because our pilots are the heart and soul of Able Flight.

We succeed in fulfilling our mission because we believe in people who believe in themselves and are willing to do what it takes to prove their abilities.  I sometimes wonder what they think the first time they leave a wheelchair behind, or slip a prosthetic leg over the canopy rail and they manage to get into the cockpit of an airplane for the first time. They are beginning a new journey that most could have never imagined. I can’t know their every emotion, because I haven’t experienced the challenges they face every day; but of this I’m certain, they experience the joy that only freedom can bring, and joy is a wonderful thing.

I applaud each of their flight instructors for sharing their knowledge, and each sponsor and person who donates, because they have become partners in changing lives. I hope I never miss an opportunity to thank them, and to remind them of what a wonderful legacy they leave in every Able Flight pilot.

If you’d like to help a dream come true, visit Able Flight.

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Freedom Flight 2011

February 24, 2011 By Charles Stites

Sean O'Donnell and Heather Schultz

In January 2011, Able Flight pilots Heather Schultz and Sean O’Donnell  fulfilled a wish to give back what was given to them by helping wounded veterans become pilots. Beginning on a bitterly cold morning in Wilmington, Delaware, they flew Sean’s specially adapted airplane on a multi-city tour of a thousand miles to demonstrate to wounded veterans and others that paralysis or other disabilities are no barrier for them.

Years ago, Sean became a paraplegic as the result of a motorcycle accident, and  four three years ago, Heather became a quadriplegic because of a diving accident. Now, they have something new in common-they are both licensed pilots.

At stops along their journey, they met with patients of veteran’s centers and spinal cord rehab hospitals, and with media representatives to share how they overcame  their own challenges to become pilots, and of the freedom they earned with hard work, determination and willpower.

Sean and Heather also used the journey to raise funds for Able Flight scholarships to make it possible for wounded veterans to become pilots. With support from large and small donations, they successfully helped Able Flight build a fund for two wounded veterans to become pilots in 2011.

Though their official Freedom Flight 2011 fund raising project has ended, Heather and Sean are still encouraging supporters to contribute any amount to support the Able Flight scholarship fund by donating here , and dedicating the donation to wounded veterans.

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Bahamas Habitat

February 24, 2011 By Charles Stites

(L-R) Dave Spangler, Steve Merritt, Dave Robertson, Matt Hansen, Ken DeYoung and Cameron King

Bahamas Habitat began a few years ago as a small group of U.S.-based pilots with a desire to volunteer their planes and skills to help the people of the islands of the Bahamas recover from the damage visited upon them by tropical storms. They organized “Fly In & Help Out” weekends, encouraging pilots of small airplanes to transport supplies and good will to the least fortunate of those who live on a chain of islands many see as paradise.

The nonprofit was the brainchild of two North Carolina friends, John Armstrong and Steve Merritt, both well-connected with pilots around the southeast who would volunteer to pay their own way to fly planes loaded with building supplies and volunteers to Eleuthera to work on someone’s destroyed roof, or help build a home from scratch. Armstrong and Merritt were smart enough to sweeten the deal by including a little non-work time to sample a beautiful beach, or a mini fly-out to another island for lunch.

Their small but effective organization soon earned a loyal following with aviators who wanted to help, and it was this core group of dedicated pilots who would prove invaluable when the earth shifted and devastated  Port-Au-Prince and surrounding towns and villages. In that instant, the mission of Bahamas Habitat grew exponentially.

Less than 48 hours after the dust began to settle, the first island-based Bahamas Habitat pilot was dropping off supplies in Port-Au-Prince, and by the next day, Steve Merritt and another North Carolina pilot had flown from the Tar Heel state to Florida, and then on to Nassau. There they picked up a doctor and a nurse and filled nearly every inch of the remaining space in a donated Baron with medical supplies and made the first of  many runs to Cap Haitien, Haiti.

Critically needed supplies being delivered in Cap Haiten, Haiti

By the third day four planes were flying, carrying supplies and medical help in and bringing people out.  As the volunteer response accelerated, a temporary “command center” was created at the Odyssey FBO in Nassau, run by young volunteers who quickly grew into the job. Over the next few months,  over 125 volunteer pilots of Bahamas Habitat flew over 400 missions and carried relief workers and tons of supplies to help alleviate the suffering and despair of Haitians.

Lives were saved and bodies repaired because of these pilots.  They saw a need and took action. They flew long days over water into uncertain and sometimes nearly chaotic conditions, missed meals, put avgas on credit cards and then slept on floors so that they could do it again the next day.

Later, Armstrong and Merritt and a number of the volunteers would travel once again, but this time to the Capitol Building in Washington, DC to receive the the 2010 Outstanding Achievement in Public Benefit Flying Award. If ever a group deserved such an honor, it was the pilots and volunteers of Bahamas Habitat.

To learn more about this outstanding group of volunteers, visit Bahamas Habitat.

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