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12/1/2007 - Angel Flight for patient returning from Pittsburgh. She was getting testing done to determine if she had Parkinson's Disease or Multiple Sclerosis. At age 45 I realize that this could be me with the same conditions. She does not talk much, I can understand. We dropped her off then went to Gatlinburg for the night.
3/28/2008 - Angel Flight (compassion flight) for parents trying to get to Atlanta to see their daughter who was involved in a very serious car accident in Atlanta. Their daughter was rear ended in a Chevy Suburban, she was sitting in the back and was thrown through the windshield. She was having seizures and was air lifted to the hospital. This had to be one of the most difficult landings in my 23 years of flying. Our drop off point to meet the other pilot was in North Carolina at an airport on top of a mountain. Normally not a problem, but as I listened to the weather about 45 miles out they were reporting winds at 27mph gusting to 40mph and wind shear. I told my passengers to tighten their seat belts because it might be a little rough going in. Everything was amazingly calm until the last 5 miles. The wind was creating a suction effect from the air flow over the mountain and the airspeed was changing +/- 30 knots on final approach. At one point I was full throttle on short final. The plane would get tossed left and I would go full right and then right and I would go full left. Believe it or not the last 20 feet and the touchdown were very smooth. My passengers said "I can only imagine how hard that was and I said me too!" I got out of the plane and this old man about 85 years old came out and asked if we needed gas and told us that there was fresh brownies and coffee inside. I told him that after an approach like that I needed something a little stronger than coffee and "Where was the bathroom?". He laughed!!!
5/28/2008 - Angel Flight with my first infant patient. She was 6 months old and nothing but smiles. I had some concerns about her flying and her ears but she sucked on a pacifier and bottle and did great. She was coming back from UVA where she was being treated for Sleep Apnea and severe Acid Reflux. She had an alarm that would go off it she quit breathing so they could wake her up. Such a cute baby and grateful family!!
7/1/2008 - Angel flight for Leukemia patient. Nice weather, patient did not talk much. I do not think the treatment was going very well. She was coming from Boston, I suppose she was at Boston University. When we got to the airport in Greenville, SC they not only gave us a big discount on the gas, they had a table full of ice cream for pilots. I know that I really did not need the ice cream but I could not let it just sit there and melt. So I helped them with some if it!!
7/16/2008 - Life Guard flight to University of Pittsburgh for liver transplant. Early AM flight nice weather. Everything seem to be on schedule when we got her there.
8/21/2008 - Life Guard flight to University of Pittsburgh for liver transplant. Same patient as I flew on 7/16/08. It turns out that the last time she went the liver could not be used because of disease. I was the fourth pilot they called because the first three could not do it. I really did not have time but I felt that if I did not do it then she would not have made it there. So, I re-scheduled some appointments and headed to the airport. She did not look very good today, it is obvious that her bad liver is taking a toll on her. The weather was marginal this morning, overcast skys and drizzle in Roanoke and I learned how low the ILS approach in Bluefield, WV takes you. When you come out of the clouds you are pretty low to the ground. Tough airport to land at in poor weather. Hopefully this liver will be good. I don't think she can wait much longer.
8/22/2008 - I got word today that the liver transplant patient from yesterday got her liver and it worked out well. I am so glad that it worked out and I could be part of it!!
8/29/2008 - I received a mission request for next Friday. I has to be the saddest thing I have ever heard. It really hurt my heart to read this mission. Here it is:
Flight date: Friday, 9/5/08 – outgoing Leg 1 of 2: Leg 2 of 2: 2 pax (17# & 125#) – total weight including baggage = 222# A one year old has to have all of their limbs amputated because of this rare disease. It makes you wonder how any parent could handle this. I will pray for this child and hope that one day this child will find some joy. I have told them that I will do the mission if they cannot find anyone else. Since Amanda is due any day I am afraid to commit. I will however do whatever it takes to make sure this child gets treatment. 2/15/2009 - I got a call this morning at 3:45 am from Angel Flight, there was a liver transplant patient that had been activated and she needed to get from Bristol to UVA within 4 hours. Unfortunately I was in Snowshoe, WV for a family vacation and could not get there in time. It was a three hour drive just to get back to Roanoke. I am sure that someone else will take it. 2/20/2009 - Angel Flight to Charlotte for a 6 month old. He has a mis-shapened head, what a sweetie!! He slept the whole flight. 5/12/2009 - Angel Flight taking 4 year old Alexis to Boston for treatment. Such a sweet girl, read my perspective page on my website for details. 6/27/2009 - I need to fill in the gaps when I get time. However I had a nice flight to Asheville, NC the other day for a boy with hemophilia. He did not say much as he spoke primarily spanish and his parents did not speak any English. 8/13/2009 - Flew little Alexis to PA on her way to Boston. Such a sweetie, she is going to be up there a few months in and out of a, induced coma so they can stretch her esophagus. I hope that I can fly her back home when she is done. 9/25/2009 - Another sad day. I
found out this this afternoon that Brooke Smith passsed away from her
cancer. She was only 22, such a shame to loose another one so soon. I flew her to Boston in January and February of this year. I cannot believe she is gone. I am sure she is dancing with the Angels in Heaven and will keep an eye on me as I fly through the skies!! So long Brooke! 10/1/2009 - I had a flight today to Clinton, NC for a liver transplant patient. He was going home after getting some testing done. He looks well but I know that he is not. Cheap self serve gas at his airport. $3.89 a gallon WHOOOO!!! 11/1/2009 - Flew a 1 year old to Cincinatti today who was heading to Rochester, MN to go to the Mayo clinic. He has a rare disease that they are trying to help him with. He is actually from Roanoke. 12/11/2009 - Todays flight was by far the saddest that I have ever taken. I flew a 2 year old named Ethan to his home near Wilmington, NC. He was coming from Cincinnati children's hospital. He had a rare disease when he was 7 months old which resulted in the amputation of all of his limbs. He is lucky to be alive. If I would not have already written my "Perspecitve" article I definitely would now. Very sweet boy! It sure makes you realize how precious life really is!!
NOTES: Appt @ 1:20pm. 1 yr old with a rare condition that results in amputation of all limbs. Car seat & stroller (30#) – included in total weight.
12/5/2008 - It has been a while since I have written anything here. I have been very busy with the family. I had a call yesterday from MJ at Angel Flight. One of the transplant patients that I was on standby for got activated. The flight was from Charleston, WV to UVA. I was number 2 on the list of pilots for this patient. The first pilot turned down the flight because of possible icing conditions. MJ asked me to take a look at the weather and see if I could do it. I just happened to be on line in my car at the time she called so I could check it out. The temperature was 3 degrees C on the ground and minus 1 at 3000 feet. The sky conditions were 600 scattered, 1200 broken, 2200 overcast. The icing forecast map also showed possible SLD. For you non-aviation types SLD is:
Supercooled Large Droplet (SLD) Icing:
SLD icing conditions are characterized by the presence of relatively large, super cooled water droplets indicative of freezing drizzle and freezing rain aloft. These conditions, which are outside the icing certification envelopes (FAR Part 25 Appendix C), can be particularly hazardous to aircraft. SLD icing threats are indicated on all Icing Severity graphics by a red hatched region. Look at the example below. Yesterday WV looked like this.
With this forecast I had to also turn down the flight. I really felt bad since the person's life depended on this organ but it would not us any good if we crashed on the way. Icing in West Virginia is bad in the winter months. Early in my aviation career in the mid 80's I experienced just how bad icing can be. Flying into the same airport that this flight was leaving from I picked up a lot of ice on the plane I was flying and the controls started to freeze up. Not the most comfortable feeling to have. The definition of learning is: "A change in behavior as the result of experience." I learned quite a bit that day many years ago. Mainly that I never wanted to go through that again. All of this lead to my decision to reject the flight.
1/25/2009 - I had an Angel flight today to Boston for a 21 year old patient with Alveolar Soft part Sarcoma (ASPS). She is from Roanoke and was featured in the Roanoke Times. She first had to go to Boston about a month ago and she could not travel by plane because of some recent surgeries. She had to drive with her mom in a friends RV that took them 24 hours. She did not have anyone to go with her on the trip so we tried to keep her company while we were flying. We got her to Boston in 3:15 of flight time plus a little pit stop in PA. She said their is no cure for her disease but she is going to Boston for a clinical trial. She is going to be getting therapy that has not been tested yet on her type of cancer. Very sad and such a nice girl. The mission almost did not go because they did not have a pilot for the second leg to Boston. This was supposed to be a two leg trip but I knew she had to get there and I felt that I had to make sure that happened. So with the help of my co-pilot John, we took the entire trip. We left early this morning and got back around 5:30pm. Other than some fuel problems on our return flight in PA the trip went off without a hitch. Beautiful day to fly and we got to see New York and Boston from the best view in the house!! I really hope the treatment is successful and her cancer goes away. I may return and bring her back home in a month. If you want to read her story click here: Brooke's Story
2/16/2009 - I got word that another pilot took the trip and the patient got to UVA in time and received her organ, and she is doing well.
2/16/2009 - I will be returning to Boston to pick up Brooke for her return trip home. I hope the clinical trial went well, and it will help get rid of her cancer. Let's hope the weather cooperates for the trip, especially the icing!!
2/26/2009 - Flew to Boston with John to pick up Brooke. The weather was marginal and icing was prevalent. We were right on the edge of getting icing most of the trip. Luckily there was a temperature inversion so it was a little warmer at altitude. We spent most of the trip in the clouds, which gives us a chance to keep up our instrument skills. It seems that the treatment did not work for Brooke. Such a shame, hopefully she can find treatment that will help. She is a real trooper and has an unbelievable personality given her diagnosis.
4/26/2009 - I have not written in a while. I have been very busy, flying a lot. I have done probably 15 or more Angel Flights this year so far. I went to Boston again Friday for a family whose daughter has cancer. It has come back for the 3rd time so she needed to go to Dana Farber to see about clinical trials. I guess experimental drugs are the last step. I really did not have the time to go to Boston again and wait for their Dr's appointment to end but they really needed to go and no other pilots could carry the load. They also had to be back the same day because of their son, which is another reason I felt that I had to do this flight. I think God was calling me to do this and make the sacrifice.
We were pretty heavy taking off, close to max gross weight and I could tell. We left at 9:30 am and returned a little after midnight. I was very tired when we landed. We did go over to Martha's Vineyard for lunch while they went to their Dr's appointment. That was pretty fun and great food. Anyway, I hope the experimental treatments work, so sad and so young.
8/15/2009 - This has been a good year, so far I have racked up 32 Angel Flights. I am very blessed to be able to do this and I always feel great after one of these flights. I wish I could do it full-time, maybe one day!
8/19/2009 - It is with a heavy heart that I write this. I found out this morning that Dana Chewning passsed away from her cancer. She was only 21, such a shame. I flew her to Boston on April 26th of this year. I cannot believe how fast she went down hill. I wish I could have done more to help her.
