FROM GOOD SAMARITAN TO DOUBLE AMPUTEE TO PILOT

FLORIDA DEPUTY SHERIFF BECOMES FIRST BOMBARDIER SCHOLARSHIP WINNER

Deputy Sheriff Dan Hodess was off duty and on his way to work on April 5^th, 1998 when he spotted a stranded motorist on I-95 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  He could have passed her by, but chose to pull his cruiser over to help. Moments later, another car hit him pinning him between the two vehicles, and the 61 mph impact instantly cost him both legs. In that moment, Dan went from Good Samaritan to a double amputee whose life was saved only by emergency help from passing medical personnel also on their way to work that morning.

The months following the accident were ones of therapy and adjustment to life with two prosthetic legs.  But with his spirit of never giving in, Dan Hodess has fought to live a normal life. Now, with his scholarship, he has taken on another challenge, that of fulfilling his long-held ambition of becoming a pilot.

ABLE FLIGHT SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS TO TRAIN AT PURDUE UNIVERSITY IN 2010

Able Flight and Purdue University’s Department of Aviation Technology have partnered for a joint flight training project for Summer 2010. Beginning

Over the next few months, Able Flight will select scholarship winners from its pool of candidates, with priority given to current or incoming Purdue students and other Indiana residents with physical disabilities.

JET AVIATION SPONSORS ABLE FLIGHT

FOR FOURTH YEAR

With a donation of $8000, Jet Aviation Business Jets has continued its sponsorship of Able Flight Scholarships for 2010. The award was presented Tuesday October 20th during the annual NBAA Convention to Charles Stites, Executive Director of Able Flight. Robert Seidel, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Jet Aviation Business Jets, and a member of the Able Flight Advisory Board, made the presentation on behalf of Jet Aviation. Jet Aviation is a founding partner and corporate sponsor of Able Flight, and was the first company to have an Able Flight scholarship in its name.

“With our industry’s renewed focus on the fundamentals of business aviation, and the recent tough economic challenges it has faced, it is important to remember that serious challenges of another kind are faced every day by people with disabilities,” said Seidel, “At Jet Aviation, we hope we can help remove some of these obstacles, and in 2010, allow some of them to achieve new, meaningful goals through flight. We are proud to be associated with them.”

"From the beginning, our partnership with Jet Aviation has enabled people with spinal cord injuries, disabilities caused by birth defects, and wounded and disabled veterans to use the challenge of becoming a pilot to profoundly change their lives," said Stites. “With their support for 2010, Jet Aviation has once again shown its commitment to our unique mission, and we are honored to continue this valued partnership.”  (Photo: (L-R Charles Stites & Bob Seidel)

AIR FORCE PILOT RETURNS TO FLIGHT WITH ABLE FLIGHT SCHOLARSHIP

C-17 Pilot  Major Tom Marquardt Flying Again After Loss of Leg

It may have been one of the smallest aircraft he has flown, and off a runway far shorter than those at McGuire AFB, but  Major Tom Marquardt's return to the pilot's seat on September 19th was a milestone in his more than 20 year career as a military and airline pilot. It was the day that he returned to flying after the loss of his right leg. For a man who has flown huge C-17's into both Iraq and Afghanistan,  and B-757s and 767s internationally, the small Sky Arrow LSA  offered him the chance for a huge step  towards his goal of returning to the cockpit of an airliner.

Marquardt says of his first flight as a pilot since 2007, "Getting back at the controls and flying hands-on gave me the same exhilarating feeling I had the very first time and every flight since. Some people may take that for granted, but once you have been unable to do something you love for reasons beyond your control, it gives you a new perspective."

ABLE FLIGHT IS LOOKING FOR CHAMPIONS...

PEOPLE WHO WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

You can become an Able Flight Champion and help make it possible for someone with a disability to become a pilot. How does it work? It's easy; just raise $500 or more for the Able Flight Scholarship Fund in a year. Able Flight Champions will be listed on our new "Champions" web page, where  you'll also find fund raising success stories and tips on how to make it easy and fun to  bring  the challenge and freedom of flight to deserving and inspiring people. And you'll have the chance to win great prizes donated by our sponsors!

NEW PILOTS RECEIVE WINGS

AT EAA AIRVENTURE

Pilots Jessica Cox, Jeremy Maddox and Mal Zackery received their hard-earned Able Flight Wings in a special ceremony in AeroShell Square at EAA AirVenture 2009. There to honor them were airshow great and Red Bull Air Racer Michael Goulian, Miles O'Brien, and Patty Wagstaff, three-time national aerobatic champion and member of the Aviation Hall of Fame.

An enthusiastic crowd was on hand to witness the culmination of the pilots' dedication to meeting the challenge of learning to fly. Special guests included previous scholarship winners Jessica Scharle, Sean O'Donnell and Kirk Fjetland, along with 101 year-old pilot Captain Joe Grant and representatives of Able Flight sponsors and supporters.

Mal Zackery was honored as Able Flight's newest pilot with an introduction by Michael Goulian. Less than two years after becoming paralyzed while shot by a robber, Mal earned his pilot certificate by training with instructor Matt Hansen of Hansen Air Group. Mal's scholarship was made possible by a generous grant from the TBM Owners Pilots Association Foundation.

Jessica Cox of Tucson, AZ had her wings pinned by Patty Wagstaff. Jessica was trained by instructor Parrish Traweek who was on hand for the ceremony. Learning to fly in Traweek's Ercoupe 415-C, Jessica has become the only person to be licensed while flying only with her feet.

Jeremy Maddox can add licensed pilot to his accomplishments. After soloing in only 11 hours, Jeremy earned his Sport Pilot certificate in a total of 37 hours. Miles O'Brien, pilot and former technology correspondent for CNN presented Jeremy with his wings.

Special guests included Bob Stangerone of Cessna, Tom Evernham of TBMOPA, Jim Irwin  and Desiree Czaplinski of Aircraft Spruce, and 101 year-old pilot Captain Joe Grant.

Click here to see a short Aero-TV Network video of the ceremony.

Photos Courtesy of Elizabeth Pratt

MAL ZACKERY OF GEORGIA EARNS LICENSE

Less than two years after becoming paralyzed, Mallory "Mal" Zackery of Georgia has become Able Flight's 12th scholarship recipient to earn a pilot certificate.  With support from the TBM Owners Pilots Association Foundation, the 29 year-old trained in an adapted Sky Arrow 600 LSA with Matt Hansen of Hansen Air Group in Kennesaw, Georgia.

In October of 2007, Mal was a district manager for a chain of  stores and was making a night deposit when he was shot by a robber. The 2003 graduate of Mercer University was treated first in Alabama, and then at Shepherd Center  near his Atlanta-area home. In his scholarship application  essay, he wrote: "I heard of the Able Flight Scholarships when I was an inpatient at Shepherd Center, at a time when I was both physically and mentally down. It was as if a world of possibilities opened up to me.

ABLE FLIGHT PILOTS SET TRANSCONTINENTAL SPEED RECORD!!

On June 8^th, pilots Matt Hansen and Jessica Scharle set a record for a transcontinental flight in a Light Sport Airplane (LSA)  by flying from Jacksonville, FL to El Cajon, CA within a single day. Departing Cecil Field at 6:01 AM EDT, they made five stops along the way and touched down at Gillespie Field near San Diego at 10:22 PM PDT for an elapsed time of 19 hours and 21 minutes, including time for fuel stops. Total flying time was 17 hours plus.

ROB LAURENT BECOMES SECOND WOUNDED VETERAN TO EARN LICENSE WITH ABLE FLIGHT SCHOLARSHIP

Saturday May 16,  2009 is a day that Rob Laurent will never forget. It was the day that he passed his check ride  to become Able Flight's eleventh licensed pilot, and the second  wounded veteran to earn his pilot certificate with a scholarship.