First Angel Flight

Dan Luke wrote:

Exactly so. Many pilots apparently don't realize that it is not necessary
to fly a bunch of missions to be an AF pilot. Even if you can only fly one
or two a year, it helps.

When I give talks on AF, of of the questions is "What kind of pilot and
airplane is AF looking for." My stock answer is: "Well, preferrably a
retired ATP who just won the lottery and has his own Gulfstream! What
we are happy to get, however, is anyone with a private pilots license
and who wants to help. We have high time pilots who have lots of money
and lots of time to donate, and who fly several times a week. We also
have college students who have to collect empty pop bottles on the
sides of the road to get enough money to rent a C-172 for a single
mission a year. Doesn't matter - each and every one of those missions
helps someone, and that's what we are looking for."

Related to this thread: We have a similar burn camp down here in
Texas. A few years ago I was flying a brother and somewhat older
sister back from the camp. Big bunch of planes met them at the
airport, a hundred kids coming home from camp - all running around with
piles of dirty clothes and wanting to show off the crafts projects they
had made.

An interesting thing about our camp (and maybe others) is that
typically EVERYONE there is a burn survivor, including the staff. They
try to hold it every summer, and the kids really seem to enjoy it.

So I load up these two kids and we head back towards their home town a
few hundred miles away. The younger boy (about 10) gets tired pretty
quickly and falls asleep, but the sister and I talk a bit about the
camp. As you would imagine, she had all the usual tales to tell. She
talked about all the things they had done, all the activities... Then
she got real quiet, and I saw a bit of a tear in one eye.

"You know," she said, "that's the first time since the accident six
years ago that I wasn't 'different.' I've got lots of friends at
school, and all that, but there, even with my friends, I'm, you know,
the burned one. At camp... well, we were all just *us*."

A flight well worth the AVGAS.

James Knox
Director - AFSC

"jmk" wrote in news:1150119295.329485.190150
@c74g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

Snipola
"You know," she said, "that's the first time since the accident six
years ago that I wasn't 'different.' I've got lots of friends at
school, and all that, but there, even with my friends, I'm, you know,
the burned one. At camp... well, we were all just *us*."
Snipola

Pardon me for borrowing this tale for my own purposes....

This story exemplifies the problem with society in which
those who are different for *ANY* reason are outcasted
and how some of those who are different make such an issue
of it that no-one ever accepts anybody.

A specific case in point. There's talk of Hillary running
for president. This Country is not ready for a woman President.
Nor is this Country is not ready for a black President. Why?
Because people will see them as a 'woman' President, or a
'black' President. When we see a person and say "they'd make
a good President" without regard to gender or race or any
other factor, then we are ready. BTW, some of our best
Presidents would never have been able to run today because
of their 'issues'.

Another specific example is how on applications for employment
there is a check box for race. Yet also on that same paper
is a statement that they do not discriminate. Does any one
else see the problem here? We're not supposed to base our
decisions on who's 'different' yet we want to know who is
'different'.

Yet another example was hurricane Katrina. When I saw the
pictures of the devestated neighborhoods, I said to myself,
"I feel sorry for those people". Then I realized 'those
people' were mostly black and knew that the media was about
to play the race card, which they did.

We should be proud of our differences and our limitations
and our advantages. We should never have to hide them for
fear of ridicule. We should look at another person and say,
"that's a fine human being", or "that's a lousy human being",
not because of what they are, but because of what they have
done.

I feel for this little girl because of the struggle she will
have for the rest of her life, but I also hold hope becuase
she has learned what 'humanity' should not be, and perhaps
she may be the one to make everyone realize what fools they
are.

I hope when grows up she becomes President.

And thank you all who volunteer for these flights.

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Seismic FAQ: http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html
Quake "predictions": http://www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html
Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?

jmk wrote:

"You know," she said, "that's the first time since the accident six
years ago that I wasn't 'different.' I've got lots of friends at
school, and all that, but there, even with my friends, I'm, you know,
the burned one. At camp... well, we were all just *us*."

This exact point was brought up by the Angel Flight West folks. They
said that one of the biggest benefits of the burn camp is that the kids
get a chance to feel normal. I'd never really thought of that, despite
the perfect sense it makes. I sure know I'll be looking for this event
on the Angel Flight calendar next year.


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane
Arrow N2104T

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth
with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there
you will always long to return"
- Leonardo Da Vinci

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

Jack Allison wrote:

This exact point was brought up by the Angel Flight West folks. They
said that one of the biggest benefits of the burn camp is that the kids
get a chance to feel normal. I'd never really thought of that, despite
the perfect sense it makes.

Quite some years ago there was a PBS story on a researcher who is
working on biomuscular control to help people who are paralized below
the waist actually walk (then even made a TV movie about his research).
One thing I still remember about the documentary was at the end they
interviewed a bunch of the research subjects. Usual questions,
including "Well, what's the biggest difference it has made in your
life?"

What I still remember was that, almost to a person, every one of them
said not the increased mobility, or the increased accessibility to
buildings... No, the biggest thing that virtually every one of them
listed as the number one change it had made to their lives: "It lets me
talk to people at their level, look them in the eye."

In other words, it makes them "not different."

Yes, most differences are to be cherished. But we all remember our
school days... we are social animals. As the Amish learned long ago,
"shunning" is one of the worst punishments we can inflict.