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."

"Tommy" Marquardt  traces the beginnings of his dream to fly to a day in 1976 and a family visit to the National Air & Space Museum In Washington, DC. It was the year that the museum opened, and the ten year-old was mesmerized by the historic displays hanging just inside the door. Later the same day, he and his family watched C-5 cargo planes landing at Dover, Delaware; foreshadowing his career flying really "big iron". Twelve years later,  after training first in gliders and then T-41s, Marquardt graduated from the Air Force Academy.  He flew T-37 "Tweets" and T-38 Talons at Vance AFB, and C-141Starlifters out of CA and NJ. Then, in the Air Force Reserves, he flew the C-17 until 2007 when he was injured due to a deep vein thrombosis that cost him his right leg.

The father of three and his wife Rebecca live in New Jersey, conveniently close to the airport at Woodbine, NJ where Able Flight pilot and Philly Sport Pilot owner Sean O'Donnell offers training in his Sky Arrow. Sean arranged for Major Marquardt to fly with instructor and former Navy F-4 Phantom pilot Tom Callahan.

Making the day even more special, on hand was a video crew from New Screen Concepts, a production company producing a series to be shown on the Military Channel. Earlier in the week the TV crew had visited with Tom in his home for interviews, and now his first flight back was being captured for history.  After the New Screen crew completed their work, Major Marquardt was scheduled  for an extensive series of training and familiarization flights with Callahan, courtesy of his Able Flight Scholarship. Noting how much the experience means to him, Marquardt says, I want to thank those who support Able Flight for making this possible for me. I couldn't have done this without their support."