Beginning Jan. 15, two Able Flight pilots will fly more than 1,000 miles to meet with wounded veterans in four states to tell them how they can receive an Able Flight scholarship. Heather Schultz and Sean O’Donnell were paralyzed as a result of spinal cord injuries and both earned their pilot licenses with Able Flight scholarships. Looking for a way to give back what was given to them, they created Freedom Flight 2011.
Not only will the pair meet with wounded veterans to encourage them to become pilots and show them the specially-adapted LSA they used for their training, they are also using the tour to help create a flight training scholarship fund to be used only for wounded veterans. They have already reached more than half of their $15,000 goal for two scholarships in 2011, and those funds are immediately available for a qualified candidate. Want to donate? Click here.
The tour includes stops at:
- Saturday Jan. 15 (two cities): Frederick, Maryland, at AOPA Headquarters Building, 10:30-noon, Frederick Airport (FDK) and Richmond, Virginia, at Dominion Aviation, 3-4 p.m. at Chesterfield Airport (FCI);
- Monday Jan. 17: Atlanta at Hansen Air Group, 10-noon, Cobb County-McCollum Field Airport (RYY) Kennesaw, Georgia;
- Friday Jan. 21: Sebring, Florida, at the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo, 11-12noon, Sebring Airport (SEF).
- Tour stops at all locations subject to weather conditions.
Able Flight is a national aviation nonprofit that provides flight and career training opportunities for people with physical disabilities and is the only one of its kind in the United States. It was founded in 2006 and awards scholarships to people with spinal cord injuries, loss of limb, congenital birth defects and injuries/disabilities received while in military service.
For more information: AbleFlight.org
I met both of these people at NBAA and we at Sennheiser Aviation Headsets are so proud of what they have done and what they are doing for Aviaton. Keep up the great work.