Angel Flight

[kwmoore]

Angel Flight is an organization of pilots who donate their time and piloting skills to provide free transportation for those in medical or other need. I have done nearly fifty flights for them over a five year period and found it to be a very rewarding experience. Moreover the organization is first-rate and pretty much devoid of politics so far as I can tell.

If any of you CA pilots are interested to learn more, there will be a quarterly meeting/brunch at Monterey on October 6. Non-members are welcome to come learn more about the organization. See

http://www.angelflight.org/californianorth/news/brunch-021006.asp

or contact me for details.

[kwmoore]

Last Thursday we were given a day off because our parent company's new drug ("Zetia," a cholesterol absorption inhibitor) has exceeded expectations during its first 6 months on the market. And a good thing too, as otherwise their fortunes have been a bit blighted for the past 2-3 years!

Of course I used a substantial part of it for flying, this time an Angel Flight from Palo Alto to Medford OR and back. The passenger was a breast cancer patient from Medford whose treatment was in Southern CA.

This "mission" was in two legs, the first from Burbank to Palo Alto by another Skylane pilot, then I did the rest. We chatted by phone a few days before, and when I asked about his plane, he described it in loving, extensive detail: a 1975 with recent paint into which he had just installed a GNS430 and GTX330. Just before concluding the conversation he asked about mine, and when I said it was a Peterson 260se/stol, he mentioned that his current engine is ~200 hr away from TBO and he's thinking of Peterson, Jewell, Air Plains, or Texas Skyways for his next mill. I allowed as how he was welcome to look over my plane when he came up and that if he went the "Way of Peterson" he for sure would not be disappointed; moreover the addition of the canard would completely transform his plane's performance. Todd, you might have a customer here.

His plane was indeed a very nice example of the breed, but he became a bit muted when he looked over 812KT. "Peterson does a nice job," he said. :cool:

WX was CAVU and a bit warm, but the flying was smooth most of the way at 8500 and 10500 feet. I asked the passenger if she would enjoy the scenic route or whether she just wanted to get home. She happily chose the scenic route, about 10-15 minutes' extra flying. This included the Napa Valley, Lake Berryessa, Clear Lake, Trinity Lake, the Trinity Alps, Mt. Shasta, Ashland OR, and into Medford. The Trinity Alps and Mt. Shasta were still substantially snow-covered after a colder and wetter-than-usual winter and spring, and both could be readily seen from more than 100 miles away.

The "Jet Center South" FBO at Medford gives a $0.60 per gallon discount to Angel Flights! In addition they were almost over-the-top courteous to this lowly ASEL driver, even with a Lear, King Air, and Turbine Commander on the ramp to occupy their attention.

812KT performed really well, turning in 147-148 KTAS at 9500 feet (55 degrees F OAT, 11000+ feet DA) on the way home.

A wonderful day, and I'm sure the passenger appreciated not only the beautiful flight but the ability to get from treatment to home in 1/3 the time it would have taken to drive.

[Mike Sullivan]

Kevin,

Zetia is going like hot cakes out of my pharmacy. If it keep up it may give Lipitor a run....

Say, thank you Mike!!! :)

[kwmoore]

Indeed, it is 'Thank you Mike."

They(we) need all the help we can get.

[kwmoore]

Click here (http://www.msnbc.com/news/994666.asp) to view a very well done segment of the Today Show's "Who We Admire" series about Angel Flight. You'll need to scroll down the page to find the Angel Flight program. :)