Tyrell Rhodes & Matt Brandon of Bombardier

Five new pilots received their Able Flight Wings in a ceremony at EAA AirVenture on July 24th. Parents, supporters and sponsors joined more than 100 guests as Jason Jernigan, Devon Radloff, Tyrell Rhodes, Matt Sponaugle and Wesley Major were honored for their hard work and success during their training at during  the Able Flight/Purdue University third annual joint training program. (Unable to attend was new pilot Steve Scott.)

Matt Brandon of Bombardier was on hand to pin wings on Tyrell Rhodes who was selected as the Able Flight/Bombardier Scholarship recipient for 2012. Rhodes was selected for the Bombardier Scholarship for his efforts to promote the history of the Tuskeegee Airmen and for his outstanding achievements while training at Purdue. Bombardier is one of only two sponsors to have a scholarship named in their honor in recognition of their continued commitment in support of Able Flight’s mission of using aviation to change the lives of people with disabilities.

(L-R) Able Flight pilots Jessica Cox and Jessica Scharle with Tom Evernham

Able Flight pilot Jessica Cox, the first person born without arms to be licensed by the FAA, introduced Career Scholarship winner and Able Flight pilot Jessica Scharle who recently used her scholarship to earn an Airline Dispatcher’s Certificate. Presenting Scharle with her award commemorating her scholarship was Tom Evernham of the TBMOPA Foundation, a  nonprofit created by TBM owners which provided Able Flight with a grant that was used to support  Jessica Scharle’s training.

A special thanks to airshow great and friend of Able Flight, Michael Goulian who pinned wings on three of the new pilots and to Jeff Alexander, David Dunlap and Chris Throndsen of  Sennheiser Aviation for their generous donation of a new  S1 headset to each of the pilots. Able Flight sponsors and supporters attending included Clint Clouart of Embraer, Gary Rankin of the American Navion Society, Tyson Weihs and Jason Miller of ForeFlight, Dennis Schmidt of Sandia Aerospace, and Jim Irwin and Desiree Czaplinski of Aircraft Spruce.

Chris Throndsen of Sennheiser (at podium) presents pilots with their new headsets

Also honored at the ceremony were Derek Stewart and Justin Lowe  of Purdue who were selected as Able Flight’s 2012 Flight Instructors of the Year. Working under the direction of Professor Bernie Wulle, Lowe guided the development of a new training syllabus for the 2012 program, while Stewart served as the Lead Flight Instructor for a team of six instructors which included Edwin Richardson, Boaz Allyn-Feuer, Garrett Goodwin and George Schnur.

To learn more about this year’s pilots who trained at Purdue, see Six Scholarship Winners Chosen To Train At Purdue.

Images courtesy of General Aviation News.

Air Force veteran Tony Pizzifred

Tony Pizzifred is a member of a very select group, a distinction he’d rather not have. In the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan the number of Air Force veterans who were wounded in combat is quite small compared to the other services. But on March 13, 2004, while serving as an MP at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan,  the eight-year veteran stepped on a landmine and lost his left leg below the knee.

Remarkably, after rehabilitation and therapy, Tony returned to duty in the Middle East as the first Air Force MP amputee to do so. Now  working at Cape Canaveral in rocket launch operations, Tony has achieved another milestone, that of becoming a pilot.

He first began to learn to fly in Texas, and then at Voyager Aviation in Florida. At Voyager he was approaching the last weeks of instruction when he ran short of funds and applied for a scholarship from Able Flight. With his scholarship he completed his training and passed his check ride on May 13th.

During his training Tony flew a Jabiru 230 LSA  at the Merritt Island, FL airport,  a location that allowed him to squeeze in a lesson in the evenings after his work day at Canaveral. His first instructor  at Voyager was Danny Morris, and he completed the last hours with the school’s chief flight instructor, Patti Vest.

Of the special day when he took his check ride, Tony said, “Finishing my check ride has put all of my training and practice into play. There was so much going on during the check ride that I didn’t realize it was over!! Since the check ride I’ve taken my first passenger with me, and I’ll tell you that it’s the greatest feeling I’ve ever had, to know that you’re doing something that most aren’t able to even imagine they could do is awesome! With Able Flight it made the end of my training go with little worry… (There was enough with the check ride alone!!!).

“Every thing that my two instructors had said, showed me or corrected me on was still in my head during and after the check ride, and to be honest, during every landing, I can still hear Danny saying ‘right rudder’… The greatest part of all this, is that I now know that there is nothing that can stop me from doing what I put my mind to! Thanks again to Able Flight and all the aviators like Able Flight pilot and wounded veteran Ryan Kelly and LT. Col Andrew Lourake (amputee pilot) that gave me the push to finish and do it well!”

On May 19th, six Able Flight scholarship winners will arrive at Purdue University in Indiana to begin five weeks of intensive flight and ground training; an experience that will change their lives forever. The six men come from all over the country, and though their disabilities and challenges may be varied, they share a passion for becoming a pilot.

The scholarship winners will live in university housing and be trained by university graduate students at Purdue’s towered  airport (KLAF). Able Flight’s Charles Stites said, “This is the third annual Able Flight-Purdue University flight training program, and the partnership  has been wonderful for our students and for the university. Working with such a world class aviation program offers our  pilots the best training possible, and the university benefits from being able to expand their training to include people with disabilities.”

The Able Flight-Purdue program has grown steadily since two students participated in 2010 and four in 2011. With six attending this year, it has increased the demands on both Able Flight and Purdue. According to Stites, “Using our two students per plane formula, this year we will provide three airplanes; two from Hansen Air Group of Atlanta and one from Philly Sport Pilot of Wilmington, Delaware. With one instructor per student, the university is now selecting six instructors so that each student can fly up to twice a day during their training.”

Jason Jernigan of Youngstown, FL will be the second Able Flight student who is deaf to train at Purdue. Jason is a senior at Florida State University studying criminology, including underwater crime scene investigation.  He will train in  the side-by-side FK4 allowing him better communication with his instructor, and will benefit from having the same instructor who worked with  Korel Cudmore, the young woman who is deaf  and who earned her license at Purdue last year. In his application he wrote, “By going through flight training I can show the world that deafness is not a handicap, but only an obstacle in life to get through. In my family, I am know as the “bulldog”, meaning I do not give up on anything that I start in life.”

Wesley Major of Wilmington, Delaware is a graduating senior at the University of Delaware and was paralyzed in an auto accident several years ago. The Dean’s List student  applied for a scholarship after being mentored by Able Flight pilot Sean O’Donnell.  After learning to fly in an adapted Sky Arrow 600 LSA, Wesley plans to become a mentor at Magee Rehabilitation, the hospital where he was treated after the accident. Wesley wrote in his application, “I realize that Able Flight will push me mentally and physically and I accept the challenge with open arms. Life since my accident has been a challenge, but I’ve adapted nicely…I want to push the limits and do something extraordinary.”

Devon Radloff of Janesville, WI, who has cerebral palsy, is a graduating high school senior who will be enrolled in a college aviation program in Wisconsin in Fall of 2012. With a goal of becoming an Airframe and Powerplant mechanic, Devon has been involved in aviation through the support of a pilot mentor, providing him the opportunity to take the controls of his friend’s Bonanza on a number of flights. In applying for his scholarship Devon wrote,” I love aviation in my heart. I just enjoy everything connected to aircraft. In the air, I enjoy the pure sense of freedom and movement and am so happy when I am in an airplane. It is one of the greatest feelings in the world. There are no visible barriers or boundaries”

Tyrell Rhodes is a graduating high school senior from Fairview Heights, IL.  Tyrell, who has cerebral palsy, plans for a career in aviation as an air traffic controller, and wants to pursue a parallel career as a motivational speaker to encourage others to challenge themselves no matter what obstacles they face. In 2011, he submitted the winning essay in a Southwest Airlines competition and was the student speaker at that year’s National Tuskegee Airman Convention. In his scholarship essay, Tyrell wrote: ” I have lived on Air Force bases all my life, where hearing the roar of the engines and seeing planes is an everyday occurrence. I’ve been mesmerized by planes since I was a toddler. At a young age I knew I was born to fly!”

Steven Scott of Poway, CA was paralyzed in an auto accident several years ago. He plans to use his  flight training experience to inspire others facing the same life-changing experience. Before the accident Steven had earned several patents for his work in solar energy, and is an avid builder and flyer of scale model aircraft, a hobby he often  demonstrates to children in his neighborhood. In his application he wrote about his passion for flight, and early lessons years ago before the pressures of work and daily life intervened, “Looking back has shown me that that flying has been a big part of my life since an early age, and that I need to stop letting life get in the way. Obtaining my pilot’s license will show people that they can achieve their goals no matter what the obstacle.”

Matt Sponaugle of Elkins, WV is a graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College and was paralyzed in a skiing accident. While serving as the IT manager at a health care systems company, Matt is  also active in a number of  wheelchair sports, including basketball and track and field. He has nearly ten hours with a  local flight instructor, but the lack of an adapted airplane halted his progress.  At Purdue Matt will train in the Sky Arrow 600 modified with hand controls. In his essay he wrote, “From the first time I flew at Nags Head, NC on a flying tour of the beach I knew it was something I had to do, especially after the pilot let me take the controls and make a few turns. This would change my life because I accomplished something that is a challenge to anyone and I would be doing something that I love.”

Charles Stites & Morgan Freeman on stage at Freeman's Ground Zero Blues Club

It was, as promised, a night to remember when friends and supporters from around the U.S. and Canada met in Clarksdale, Mississippi on Saturday, April 21st to honor Able Flight’s pilots and raise funds for the scholarship program. Hosted by Morgan Freeman, the first-ever benefit for Able Flight was a great success raising just over $30,000, and giving friends, donors and sponsors an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the eight pilots who were there for the party.

The evening kicked off with Morgan on hand to greet guests as they entered his Ground Zero Blues Club. Just before the music began, guests were welcomed by club co-owner Bill Luckett, Morgan Freeman and Charles Stites of Able Flight. Stites offered a special thank you to Sennhesier Aviation and Embraer Aircraft for sponsoring the event, allowing all proceeds to go directly to the scholarship fund.

Morgan with guests (L-R) Danielle and Carrie Rydzik and Carrie's mom Martha Krejci

Guests were treated to dinner and music beginning with Heather Crosse’s band Heavy Suga’ and the Sweetones, pilot/musician Joe Ellis, and Delta bluesman Terry “Big T” Williams. They were followed by the incredible Paul Thorn and his band with Bill Hinds on guitar, Michael Graham on keyboards, Jeffery Perkins on drums and Ralph Friedrichsen on bass. It didn’t take long before guests were on the dance floor, and calling it “the best party ever”.

Thanks to our friends from Bombardier, Schmidt Consulting and Redbird Flight Simulators for supporting Able Flight and to all of the guests whose donations will soon be put to work training our scholarship winners. And for those who missed the “epic party” of 2012, we’re already thinking about 2013!

Most pilots look at Adam Kisielewski and can’t help but wonder how they would deal with flying an airplane without an arm on their left side and with a prosthetic leg below the knee on their right. But Adam leaves the wondering to others and just goes about his life with the thoughtful and quiet determination he has shown since being critically injured in Iraq in August of 2005. Somehow he survived the blast that occurred when he attempted to pass though a door rigged with hidden explosives; a blast that took the life of a fellow Marine.

To say that his survival and recovery have been remarkable is to sell Adam short. With extraordinary battlefield emergency medicine and intensive post-injury rehabilitation, many wounded veterans have survived and recovered. It’s just that Adam is a special case. Undaunted by the magnitude of his injuries, he worked his way through rehab, declined the use of a prosthetic arm that would have to be attached at the shoulder, and found his own adaptations. The father of a young son can now often be seen riding his unmodified Harley, and has fulfilled a dream that began when he was a teenager. On April 19th, Adam become a licensed pilot.

With his Able Flight Scholarship Adam trained at  the busy Frederick, Maryland airport, mixing in with near constant helicopter and fixed wing traffic. And for the Marine who once served on the presidential security detail at nearby Camp David, the importance of  never losing situational awareness in the airspace around Washington, DC added another layer of complexity to his training.

Adam credits his instructors Dean Stickell, a retired Air Force test pilot, and Dave Hirschman, Senior Editor of AOPA PILOT Magazine with giving him the skills and confidence to work through the challenges of learning to fly using only one hand and adjusting to  the limited feedback provided by a prosthetic leg. As humble as he is in thanking them, Stickell and Hirschman are quick to praise his creativity in working around what others might see as limitations. The evidence of that came during his check ride; a check ride preceded by several months of training in a Flight Design CT.

Adam with CT owner Joe D'Aguair

Most Able Flight pilots now learn to fly in a joint Purdue University/Able Flight program in the spring of each year, but Adam needed to remain close to his Operation Second Chance office  to continue his work helping other wounded veterans. So Able Flight located a CT based at Northampton Aeronautics in Massachusetts, and with the assistance of flight school manager Rich MacIsaac and CT owner Joe D’ Aguair, arranged for the CT to “live” at Frederick during late winter/early spring so that Adam could fly an average of 3-5 times a week. That training paid off  with an unusually long student cross country to deliver the CT back to  its home where Adam would take his check ride to become Able Flight’s 20th licensed pilot to date.

For an indepth look at that experience, read Dave Hirschman’s report on Adam’s check ride.

Chris trains at Rainbow Aviation.

Chris Gschwendtner was lucky to be alive after his vehicle was struck by an explosive while on the infamous IED Highway between Baghdad and the city’s international airport. He had a concussion, but knew he had dodged the big one.  Then less than two months later, Chris had to be airlifted to a field hospital after a rocket exploded next to him in while he was in the city’s “Green Zone”.  The concussive force of  both explosions left the young infantryman with a traumatic brain injury (TBI), the hidden injury so common to those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.  His injuries put him on the path to leaving active duty, and cut short his plan to become a helicopter pilot.

For the young man who grew up in a military family, his first mission became finding a way to continue serving  his country, and he has done that by becoming a member of the U. S. Army Reserves. His second mission was to prove to himself that he can still excel as a student; this time in aviation. Studying doesn’t come as easily for the recipient of two Purple Hearts as it did when he earned a  business degree from Penn State, so Chris simply bears down and works harder. That’s how he became a Sport Pilot early in 2011, and that’s how he has now become a certified Light Sport Repairman.

With tuition and expenses paid through his Able Flight Career Training Scholarship, Chris graduated with a 98 on his final exam at Rainbow Aviation in California, and within days was hired by the maintenance department at Chesapeake Sport Pilot near his home in Maryland (where he earned his Sport Pilot Certificate).

Chris training for his new career in aircraft repair and maintenance.

“Chris is an outstanding example of why we created this scholarship”, said Charles Stites of Able Flight. “With the help of a generous donor we paid for his training, and Chris has now proven he deserved the opportunity. During his training at Rainbow Aviation I heard that he didn’t even take a weekend day off. He just kept pushing himself to learn as much as he could. Now  his dedication has paid off with his new job at Chesapeake Sport Pilot.”

Of his scholarship and his new career, Gschwendtner said, “This opportunity has opened so many new doors for me. I hope that I can live up to that and make all the people that make Able Flight possible very proud. I want to thank  them once again for seeing the potential in me and giving me this amazing opportunity.”

To support training for other wounded veterans, visit here.

(L-R) Tyson Weihs of ForeFlight and Charles Stites of Able Flight

ForeFlight, a leading provider of aviation software for pilots has become a sponsor of Able Flight’s unique flight training program for people with  physical disabilities. In addition to a financial donation for the scholarship fund, ForeFlight will provide software for students to use during their training.

Co-founder Jason Miller said, “ForeFlight is exceptionally pleased to help Able Flight in their efforts.  Flying is true freedom, and Able Flight provides that freedom to so many wonderful people.  It’s truly a privilege to sponsor that work.”

“We’re honored to have ForeFlight  join us in our mission to use aviation to change the lives of people with disabilities,” said Charles Stites of Able Flight. “ForeFlight’s co-founders  Tyson Weihs and Jason Miller are both pilots, and they clearly understand  the impact that learning to fly can have on  people who only need an opportunity to prove their abilities.  It has been amazing to see their company’s growth over the last few years, and we’re excited that our student pilots will have the opportunity to use their software.”

Weihs and Miller created their company to take advantage of their software design experience, their knowledge of flying, and the new platform offered by the iPhone. With the introduction of the iPad, flight planning and inflight aviation software applications have become nearly ubiquitous,  and ForeFlight’s Mobile HD application is one of the most popular. To learn more about ForeFlight, visit their website.