Cost: It would have been cheaper to give the Salvation Army a couple
grand.
Expression on our passenger's husband face when we arrived at PHF:
Priceless.
Thanks for posting this Michelle.
A couple weeks ago I signed up with Operation Brothers Keeper. At that time
they were flying missions out of Atlanta to Baton Rouge to flyin doctors and
retrieve homeless families. I had the entire weekend free and thought it
would be a great opportunity to help considering that they were specifically
requesting twin engine 6 place planes. On Sunday morning because I hadn't
been contacted yet, I decided to sign up with LifeLine Pilots and Angel
Flight. I flew my first mission for LifeLinePilots on Sunday the 11th. My
passenger lives in Anderson, IN, north east of IND and needed to get to the
Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN for surgery the following day.
Sunday morning came with VFR weather but the haze had visibilities down to
3-5 miles, even at 9000 ft. I got up early and headed to the airport for a
wheels up at 6:30am for an arrival at AND at 9:00am. Although Indy Center
vectored me straight in to a final approach course, I couldn't see the
airport until I was 3 miles out and just on the verge of requesting the GPS
approach. After some trouble with the fuel pump, I managed to get the tanks
topped off and settled in to wait for my passenger who was scheduled to
arrive at 10am.
And that she did. At precisely 10am I looked out the window of the FBO to
see a middle aged woman struggling to get her bags out of a full sized van.
I knew this had to be her so I ran out to lend her a hand, which she greatly
appreciated. She immediately began telling me about her illness and the
reason for the trip, not that it mattered to me, I was just happy to help
her. She explained that she had been forced to quit her job to take care of
her 91 year old mother and that she was the reason that she had the big van
with the wheel chair lift. She said that there was simply no way that she
could physically take the 12 hour drive to Rochester, and the cost of the
gas alone would use up most of her spending money.
She explained that she'd had several occasions to request LifeLine flights,
and because of them and pilots like us, she was able to live at home and
continue to care for her mother. She went on to tell me that without us,
she would be not have received the care she needed and both her and her
mother would be forced into nursing homes as they could not afford any type
of in house care or assisted living.
By 10:20am we were off the ground, headed to Rochester, MN. I had pre-filed
all 3 IFR flight plans, so it was just a matter of getting a clearance from
the AND tower while we taxied out and we were gone. 2 hours 30 minutes
later we touched down at RST on the back side of a front that had winds
blowing straight down the runway at 20 knots, gusting to 25. We had turned
a 12 hour drive requiring 2 days for her to complete into an enjoyable 2
hour 30 minute flight with non stop conversation and music playing in the
back ground.
I'd asked my passenger along the way if she had arranged ground
transportation to the Clinic, and that if she had not, I'd be happy to
request a courtesy car from the FBO and drive her there. She had never
heard of such a service, so I explained that pilots normally fill up the car
with gas as a courtesy to the FBO and the FBO then charges us $4.00 per
gallon for avgas. She laughed and said that sounded fair. Actually, RST
gave me $0.25 per gallon off of their $4.50 price because it was a LifeLine
flight, and they were more than happy to let us use their van.
As I taxied out, RST tower had me hold at the end of the runway for landing
traffic. I was entertained by first a Supercub and then a C-120 land. The
Supercub was fitted with 30 inch tundra tires that looked absolutely huge.
He really put on a landing clinic for me into that 20 knot wind, he came in
slow and touched down with a bounce then pushed the stick ahead to keep the
tail flying. He was stopped by the first turn off, which was only about 200
feet down the runway. Amazing. The ride home to STE would normally take
about 50 minutes in the Aztec, but the winds were in my favor and I climbed
up higher to speed things along. It knocked about 10 minutes off the
flight.
882 nm.
6 hours on the hobbs
150.1 gallons of fuel
The sense of accomplishment and satisfaction... priceless. The thanks and
appreciation from my passenger... immeasurable.
For those of you that are wondering what you can do with your pilots
liscense and are tired of the $100 hamburger trips, get involved. The
expenses you incur are tax deductible if you sign up with one of the IRS 502
type organizations as listed on Air Care Alliance's website below, the
rewards are far greater than any amount of money. You do NOT have to be an
airplane owner, renters with adequate insurance also qualify.
http://www.aircareall.org/
Jim