Sebastien Heintz of Zenith Aircraft Co. recently posted a video to LinkedIn and YouTube with one of the reasons he loves his job. The video depicts the first cross-country flight of Justin Falls in his STOL CH 750 “Sky Jeep” light sport utility aircraft, with his wheelchair in the rear baggage area, to Jefferson City, the Missouri state capitol.
Justin is a quadriplegic sport pilot, who earned his ticket through the generosity of Able Flight, an organization that raises funds to give people with disabilities the chance to learn to fly again.
Justin’s Zenith STOL light sport aircraft is powered by the 100-hp Continental 0-200 engine and is equipped with custom controls for him to fully pilot and operate the aircraft.
Congratulations Justin. I hope you get to fly lots of places of interest and take others too. Thank you for your patient explanations above , too.
Since Justin can move his arms, he would be described as paraplegic, not quadriplegic.
quadriplegic:
“one affected with partial or complete paralysis of both the arms and legs especially as a result of spinal cord injury or disease in the region of the neck”
Please read up on the other articles linked by Sebastien Heintz. Here’s a quote from one:
“A year of therapy helped Falls regain some strength in his left hand and both arms. Though still, by medical definition, “quadriplegic,”
According to Justin Falls:
“People often think of a total paralysis when they hear the term “quadriplegia,” but it can also be partial paralysis. Since I had a neck injury, it caused my right hand and right triceps muscles to be paralyzed also. My left arm is also not quite 100% functional, so “quadriplegia” or “tetraplegia” is the correct medical terminology.”
Thanks for sharing!
Here’s more info about Able Flight and Justin Falls
http://www.zenith.aero/profiles/blogs/able-flight
http://bit.ly/justin-flies