Nomen -

I'm not Peter, but I do fly for Angel Flight West and can answer some
of your questions. My answers are interspersed with your questions.

Nomen Nescio ] wrote in
:

Peter,
After looking through the web sites that you referenced, I just have
to say what a teriffic service
you are providing to those in need. Certainly a far more worthy cause
than the $100 hamburger. It's something that I would be very
interested in becoming involved with and I have a few questions that I
really can only get answered by an active participant. And maybe a
couple that you can't answer.

1) liability issues
The release from Angel Flight East seems pretty straight forward,
you're not liable for anything!
But I was wondering if you had checked it out with an attorney to get
a professional opinion. Some lawyers start smelling money and they may
go for any angle, no matter how bizarre. Are you aware of any cases
where pilots have had legal problems result. Being "not for hire"
lowers one's liability, I know. But nowadays.....?????
Also, I can't call up a form on Angel Flight Northeast. Is it
basically the same?

2) Class 3 medical issues: I assume that as long as you can pass your
class 3, are properly BFRed, current, and meet the 300hr, IFR, 25 IMC?
requirements that you're in there. I'm asking 'cause I lost half my
right lung (big hole, long story) in '86 and had to jump through the
hoops to get my medical back. Official determination was that while I
was at higher risk for a spontaneous pneumothorax (collapsed lung),
that I would still be able to safely land an aircraft despite the
associated breathing difficulties. I'm hoping that this wouldn't rule
me out.

3) Contageous Disease - Quite simply, do you fly people that you could
catch a major disease from?


You have your choice of missions. When I log on to see the available
missions, I get a brief description of the treatment the passenger is going
for. I haven't had any problems with this, nor do I recall any mission
which listed a contagious disease. I don't think someone with a contagious
disease would be approved by their physician to take any flight.

The missions I've flown have been mainly for follow-up hospital visits for
various transplants and cancer treatments, family members tending to
hospitalized children, camps for children who are burn victims, and camps
for children with hearing disabilities. The kids (8-16 in age) I've flown
have all loved the flights. One mission I flew was a "milk run" - no
passengers, just 200 lbs of frozen mother's milk.

4) What special care do you have to provide for the passengers? I read
the physicians release Ambulatory, no bathrooms, can't lie down, etc.
But could you tell me a little bit about your experiences with various
individuals. Panic attacks, in flight emergencies, Interior needs a
cleaning ('nuff said), overall passenger attitude (appreciative to
bitchy?), etc.


In about 25 missions, I haven't had any problems with passengers. Every
passenger I've flown has appreciated the service Angel Flight provides. I
do remind my passengers to use the facilities before we take off, and if
the flight is more than 2 hours, I keep in mind where airports are en route
where I can land if necessary for passenger comfort. I have NOT yet had
to use this alternative.

5) Commitment: Hours for the avg. mission, times of day (night),
advance notice, lay overs, etc.


As you pick the missions you want to volunteer for, this is entirely up to
you. I've flown missions which have been as few as 2.5 hours flight time
and as long as 8 hours flight time. (Flight times include all dead head
legs.) Most of my missions have been during the day with only the return
to my home base at night (and these mainly because I stopped for dinner
somewhere en route home.

6) Aircraft: If you can do it in a 172, I guess just about anything
that you can squeeze 4 people in will work?


You can do a mission in a 152 if it is only for one person and little
luggage!. On my "milk run" (200 lbs of mother's milk from San Jose to San
Bernadino), I had no passengers on board. I've flown missions in C172,
C182, Archer, Arrow, and Rallye 235.

Before I volunteer for a mission, I look at the mission form and make sure
that the number of passengers AND their weight AND their luggage will be a
fit for the aircraft I'm planning to use. If not, I don't volunteer for
the mission. The first thing I do after being assigned a mission is to
contact the passenger and verify weight and baggage. If the original data
was wrong and the aircraft I have available won't handle the mission, I
immediately get back to the Angel Flight office so they can find another
pilot.

7) Any other negatives that I might have missed.

The only negative I can think of, and its not really a negative, is that
flights can be cancelled by the passenger at the last minute. Worst case
is you've done some flight planning you don't get to use. To me, this is
NOT a negative, as it never hurts to practice flight planning.

8) Oh, 1 more. How do you figure expenses. Fuel, oil, obviously. But
do you include allocations for overhauls, repairs, annual, etc.
Or do you rent?

If you own the aircraft, your expenses are limited fuel, oil, landing fees,
and parking fees. If you rent, the entire rental cost plus, if renting
dry, fuel and oil, as well as any landing fees and parking fees are
allowed. Note that just about all airports and FBO's waive landing and
ramp fees for Angel Flight. Many also give a discount on fuel. Last year
I took a flight from Mariposa/Yosemite to San Francisco International. No
landing fee, no Signature ramp fee, and red carpet treatement by ATC and
the FBO! I'll never forget being cleared to land on 28R at SFO and in the
same transmission the SFO tower switching a United heavy to 28L stating
they needed the right for an Angel Flight. It was quite thrilling to see a
747-400 rolling to a stop 750' away!


I know I'm asking for a lot of info. here (small novel?) but I am
seriously interested in this and want to be sure that I am going into
it with my eyes wide open. I'll bet others here might be interested,
also.

I don't see any negatives to being a volunteer pilot with Angel Flight. I
look at it as a triple win:

1) The passenger gets help they need.

2) I get the fun of flying.

3) I can fly 33% more hours for the same budget with the
tax deductions.


Thanks

Disclaimer: Yea, I'm for real.........No. I'm not a troll.........I
use a remailer for spam elimination
...........Any and all replies related to the subject will be
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(There, I hope that covers It)







I hope this helps.

--
Marty Shapiro
Silicon Rallye Inc.

(remove SPAMNOT to email me)