Gary Drescher wrote:
"Bob Gardner" wrote in message
...
As much as some pilots hate to pat themselves on the back, IMHO the local
newsies should be notified about every Angel Flight. Gotta get the word
out that we are not rich playboys.

Bob, I volunteer for Angel Flight too; it's a worthy organization. But I
don't think that sort of volunteerism speaks as well for pilots as you
suggest. After all, if the main goal were to help others, there'd be *much*
more cost-effective ways to do so than by flying Angel Flight missions.
Angel Flight does make recreational flying a bit less uselessly hedonistic
than it would otherwise be--which is why I volunteer for the missions. But I
don't think we sould kid ourselves into thinking that Angel Flight
volunteering makes us especially humanitarian.

Gary:

I live in the Rocky Mountain area and Angel Flight here is really
necessary. All too many of our pax are nowhere near a major airport
or even a train station. And when they need to be in Denver (or
Phoenix or SLC or...) every week or every other week, it becomes
both an emotional and physical drain. One couple I've flown needs to
travel from middle Kansas to Denver every other week. It's
a 10-12 hour drive yet only 3-4 hours by Angel Flight. It's a 3 hour
drive just for them to get to an airport that's served by a commuter
flight. Yet there's a GA airport 30 min from where they live.

My memory is often faulty but IIRC Angel Flight was the only non-military,
non-govt. "airline" in the skies, moving blood to the East Coast
after 9-11. But I could be wrong. Often am.