Some of the early arrivals were treated to a private tour and simulator time at SimCom’s Orlando facility, arranged by Able Flight supporter Jeffrey Goldberg and courtesy of SimCom.  Just prior to the party, guests were given an after-hours tour of many of  the historic aircraft in Kermit Week’s collection. Then, with two beautiful P-51s, an Albatross and a Sopwith Snipe decorating the hangar, the party began with dinner and introductions of the pilots and special guests followed by music from the Paul Thorn Band.

The benefit was made possible with the generous support of sponsors Sennheiser U.S.A, Embraer Aircraft and Signature Flight Support. The event sponsors underwrote all costs,  making it possible  for proceeds from donations for seats and an auction to go directly to the scholarship fund. Signature Flight Support also served as the host FBO for the party at its Kissimmee location,  waiving ground charges and providing discounted fuel for arriving guests.

Guests included  Matt Brandon of Bombardier, David Armstrong of Embraer, David Dunlap, Chris Throndsen, Christain Pulm and Tim Mell of Sennheiser,  Patrick Sniffen of Signature Flight Support,  Katie Pribyl, Adam Smith and Stephany Keynon of AOPA,  Mike Suckow of Purdue University, Gene Schmidt of Schmidt Consulting, Bill Perrone Sr. and Bill Perrone, Jr. of Perrone Aerospace, John “Lites” Leenhouts, president of Sun ‘n Fun, Tom Bliss, publisher of AVweb, airshow greats Steve & Suzanne Oliver,  Andy Matthews of iFlightplanner.com, and Able Flight board members Steve Merritt and Julia Spicer.

A live auction included items donated  by Sennheiser, Perrone Aerospace, ForeFlight, Bombardier, Signature Flight Support, Sandia Aerospace, Dynon, Sam Lyons,  Kermit Weeks and Team Aerostars. A special thanks to Bill Campbell of Atlanta for bringing five Able Flight pilots to the event in his Cessna 421, and to Jeffrey Goldberg of Chicago for bringing Able Flight pilot Tyrell Rhodes in his TBM 850. And thanks to Gina Hubbard and Scott Dickie  and the rest of the Fantasy of Flight team and Tom Pittman of American Audio Visual for their help in making the evening a success. Most of all, thanks to everyone who came to honor our pilots and make it possible for others to join them in the freedom of flight.

Andrew Kinard

Andrew Kinard chose the Marines when he graduated from the Naval Academy, and passed on a slot as a Marine aviator to choose the infantry instead. Only five weeks into his first deployment  in Iraq an IED cost both of his legs and led to 17 months of rehabilitation at Walter Reed Medical Center. Soon Andrew will graduate from Harvard with both law and business degrees. And after five weeks at Purdue,  Andrew will become an aviator. In his application he wrote, “Becoming a pilot will be the ultimate expression of my sense of adventure and my yearning for freedom. In the air, there are no limits!   With an impressive list of  educational and aeronautical accomplishments on the horizon, he says, “I have spent the last seven years trying to restore the man I used to be. I am now ready to become the man I ‘m meant to be.”

Deirdre Dacy

Deirdre Dacey of Massachusetts was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at 16.  Over the next ten years her MS progressed to the point where she had to begin using a wheelchair. Refusing to  be “held back”, Deirdre not only went on to complete college, but also earned a Master of Science Degree and graduated with honors. She is a Girl Scout Leader and works for a nonprofit that specializes in adoption, foster care and independent living. In her scholarship application Deirdre wrote of always wanting to learn to fly, and of her need to “make a difference in the world” and “to be known and remembered for something other than my disability”.

Young Choi

Young Choi of California had polio as a child in Korea; an experience that not only affected his ability to physically navigate through the country of his birth, but also shaped his view of himself. He recalls his early years in Korea as being very confining and  “difficult because of the country’s severe lack of focus on disability”, an outlook that changed dramatically when he moved to the United States at age 22. Later he became a U.S. citizen and is now the father of three and a software engineer for a very well-known company. Young’s goal is to change the way people view disabilities not just in the Asian community in the United States, but in Korea.  He wants to be an advocate “for those who have challenges and encourage them to achieve their own goals and push through their limitations”.

Warren Cleary

Warren Cleary has probably spent more hours in flight than many pilots. Those were hours quickly gaining altitude and more quickly returning to earth after jumping out of an airplane. The Georgia resident has been a professional skydiving videographer, an Accelerated Freefall Instructor and a FAA Senior Parachute Rigger. A member of the U.S. National Skydiving Team, Warren placed seventh in world competition in Dubai in 2011 and was training for the 2012 world meet when an accident caused his paralysis. All along he had planned to become a pilot, now  he has that opportunity thanks to his Able Flight scholarship.  In his application Warren wrote, “Being an active member in the spinal cord injury community as a Christopher Reeve Foundation Peer mentor, I could be a great example to others by showing them what can be accomplished in spite of a disability.”

Dennis Akins of Texas was only fourteen when he became paralyzed as the result of an accident on a trampoline.  He has spent more than three decades in a wheelchair and during that time he earned a degree from Texas A&M, became a father, and has had a long career as an engineer, now with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. That’s a long time to push back the dream of flying for the young boy who would “sit inside a cardboard box that was decorated with dials and switches, pretending I was a fighter pilot flying P-40s in China with the AVG”. His childhood aviation fantasy was fully revived in 2003 when a chance flight led him to becoming a member of the Civil Air Patrol where he now serves as Unit Commander and  Aerospace Education Officer.  At Purdue, the Sky Arrow will substitute for a P-40 when Dennis begins flight training.

Dennis Akins

The Able Flight student pilots will be trained by university graduate school instructors and will live in university housing located just minutes away from the school-owned towered airport  (KLAF).  Able Flight’s Charles Stites said, “When we look at applicants for training at Purdue we make sure they understand that this is not an easy program. In fact, it is just the opposite and that’s by design.  Able Flight pilots who train at Purdue follow a strict syllabus developed by the university and they receive double the minimum training hours required by the FAA.”

While in training the students study together and are mentored by their instructors, and this year they will have the advantage of  support and mentoring by two Able Flight pilots who previously trained at Purdue and are now enrolled in the university’s Department of Aviation Technology.  Kevin Crombie earned his license in 2011 and is now an undergraduate at Purdue, and Wesley Major earned his license in 2012 and is a graduate student at the university. Major will also serve as a volunteer program coordinator for Able Flight during this year’s training, with responsibility for coordinating training and aircraft maintenance schedules.

The five to six week course will require five instructors and two aircraft. Able Flight rents the Sky Arrows from Hansen Air Group of Atlanta and Philly Sport Pilot of Philadelphia, and a week before training begins the planes will be moved to Purdue for the duration of the training. Able Flight’s Stites said,” Not only does this program provide a life-changing experience for our students, but we use funding from our donors and sponsors to support small aviation businesses each year. It’s a perfect combination.”

Join Able Flight pilots and special guests all for a great cause at our second annual benefit party on Saturday, April 20th!

It will be a night of great music, food and fun at the incredible Fantasy of Flight near Orlando, FL.  Celebrate  the success of our newest pilots including wounded veterans while surrounded by some of the world’s rarest flying aircraft. You’ll meet some of the most inspiring people in aviation  while listening to the amazing Paul Thorn Band (just ask anyone who came to last year’s party!), and you could be seated just a few feet away from a Red Tail P-51!

With the generous support of sponsors Sennheiser, Embraer Aircraft and Signature Flight Support, all expenses for the party are paid, so your donation for a table or a seat will go directly to the scholarship fund!  This is a true party, so don’t expect an evening of speeches and awards. Dress is very causal, and it’s a night to have fun while making it possible for Able Flight to bring even more people into aviation.

Individual seats are available for a $500 donation to the scholarship fund, and tables of ten are available for a donation of $4000.

For  information on how to reserve your seat, visit here.

Thanks to our party sponsors for making this special night possible!

Stephany Glassing

No one would have blamed Stephany Glassing for giving up on her childhood dream of becoming a pilot. When she was selected as one of Able Flight’s first two scholarship winners in 2006, no one could have predicted what she would have to endure over the next six years.

Her training began well and looked promising, but then came the first in a series of serious illnesses related to her spinal cord injury as a teenager. More than once she recovered and returned to flying, determined to make up for lost ground. She soloed, and then began cross-country work only to return to the hospital once again to fight off another life-threatening illness. But as she has done with every challenge in the decades since becoming paralyzed, Stephany never lost sight of her goal, and on Friday, November 16th, her dream came true.

Stephany’s journey to the moment when she first held her pilot certificate in her hands was never certain. In fact, she will freely admit to a life of great highs and deep lows. Photos of her as a child, standing on the legs that now do not support her, show her living the life of a teenager in the Florida sun. Blond hair, always a smile; that’s the Stephany before the night of the accident that left her paralyzed. Not yet 20 at the time, she made a choice to ride with a drunk driver and has now spent decades in a wheelchair. The use of her legs may be gone, but the smile is still there.

She raised a bright and beautiful daughter all on her own, and along the way she became a champion water skier. She is a graphic artist and painter, and now she has added licensed pilot to her remarkable list of achievements. But that  latest success was often in doubt as her body rebelled at her years in the chair. Time after time she was in the hospital battling deep and serious infections, and facing risky surgery to repair the almost truss-like metal bracing that stabilizes her back.

Stephany Glassing and instructor Mitch Hansen

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.

Wesley Major

The heat was record breaking, and the days of intensive training were long, but six Able Flight scholarship winners who trained at Purdue University passed their check rides and are now licensed pilots. They arrived in West Lafayette, Indiana in late May and soon were in the air and the classroom working towards their Sport Pilot certificates. Earning their licenses were Wesley Major of Delaware, Tyrell Rhodes of Illinois, Jason Jernigan of Florida, Matt Sponaugle of West Virginia, Devon Radloff of Wisconsin and Steven Scott of California.

Tyrell Rhodes

As with all of Able Flight’s scholarship winners, this year’s class of students face a variety of physical challenges. Jernigan is the second student who is deaf who has trained under Able Flight’s program at Purdue. Both Radloff and Rhodes have cerebral palsy, and Scott, Majors and Sponaugle use wheelchairs due to spinal cord injuries as a result of accidents.

Three of this year’s students had graduations just before or during their training, including Majors who  earned a degree from the University of Delaware, and Rhodes and Radloff who recently graduated from high school.

This was Able Flight’s largest class to date in the third year of the joint training program with Purdue’s Department of Aviation Technology, and that meant more instructors and more planes were required. Instructors were Derek Stewart, Justin Lowe, Edwin Richardson, Garret Goodwin, Boaz Allyn-Feuer and George Schnur. The students learned to fly in two adapted Sky Arrow 600 LSAs and a FK 9. The FK and one of the Sky Arrows were rented from Hansen Air Group of Atlanta and the other Sky Arrow was rented from Philly Sport Pilot of Wilmington, Delaware.

Jason Jernigan

Over nearly six weeks the students accumulated over 250 hours of flight time and almost the same  number of hours combined in ground school and pre-flight and post-flight briefings. Overseeing the project  for the third year was professor Bernie Wulle, teaching the ground school course was Scott Winter, and  providing much needed  aircraft inspections, minor repairs and maintenance was Brian Strim.

Blazing heat made it necessary to begin flights in the very early morning, and when possible, the students were up for their second flights of the day in the hours just before sunset. In between flights the students attended ground school classes and had their own informal study sessions at the dorm. They also had the chance to explore the Purdue campus and the town.

Matt Sponaugle

This year’s class also benefited by having Able Flight pilot Kevin Crombie on campus as a mentor. Kevin was one of four scholarship winners to earn their license last year at Purdue and has since applied to and been accepted into the school’s aviation program. Now living in West Lafayette, Kevin (who uses a wheelchair due to paralysis) was on hand to guide the new students through their first days in unfamiliar territory; especially helpful to the three students this year who also use wheelchairs.

Following a syllabus developed by instructor Justin Lowe, the instructors made the  normal entries in each student’s logbook, and also kept a detailed master log of the  combined status of all students. As with all Able Flight instruction, the goal for training at Purdue is to teach well beyond the FAA minimum standard for a Sport Pilot Certificate. This year’s pilots logged an average of  just over 40 hours each, more than 100% beyond what is required by the FAA.

Devon Radloff

Inevitably, some good-natured competition developed over who would solo or finish first,  causing some of the students to try to convince their instructors to give them extra lessons. The daily logs show that for the most part, the instructors were immune to such requests, instead making sure that everyone had an equal chance to fly the same number of hours each day. As solo time approached, each student received a phase check provided by a different instructor and was required to take a pre-solo written exam. The phase check was repeated before each student was approved for their solo cross country and check ride flights.

Steven Scott

Able Flight would like to thank the sponsors and donors who made it possible for the pilots to train and earn their licenses at Purdue, including King Schools for providing an online knowledge test course and ForeFlight for proving a one-year subscription for each pilot. And a special thanks to A&P Brian Strim who worked nights performing inspections and repairs to keep both Sky Arrows and the FK flying under a demanding schedule.

Able Flight’s new pilots will be honored at the annual “Wings” pinning ceremony held at EAA AirVenture, scheduled for Tuesday July 24th at 11:45 AM in Phillips 66 Plaza. Join them and special guests including airshow great Michael Goulian and Able Flight pilot Jessica Cox.

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!”

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.

Adam Kisielewski

With help from Veteran’s Airlift Command and Cessna, wounded Marine Adam Kisielewski was treated to a flight from his home in Maryland to Sun ‘n Fun in Lakeland, FL. With him on the trip were his wife Carrie and son Evan. Upon landing he was welcomed by a group of Marines, Charles Stites and Steve Merritt of Able Flight, and Walt Fricke of Veteran’s Airlift Command.

For the young man who recently soloed for the first time and is now well on his way to his pilot’s license, every day is special and would have been hard to predict just a few years ago, because Adam Kisielewski shouldn’t be alive. From the instant he passed through an explosives-rigged door in Iraq on  August 21st  in 2005, Adam has been living his second life, the one given to him by his own fighting spirit and the wonders of modern battlefield medicine.

It was only a month and two days after Adam’s deployment to Iraq began when his squad was given the assignment of clearing a school of suspected insurgents. The blast cost Adam his left arm at the shoulder and his right leg below his knee, and it cost the life of his fellow Marine, Lieutenant James “Cat” Cathey, mortally wounded as the two men were on a room to room search. The actions of his squad, an immediate evacuation in a Humvee to a field hospital, and the superior emergency care he received  gave him the opportunity to live.  From Iraq he was airlifted to Germany, and then, in five days Adam was back “home”, with home being Bethesda Naval Hospital for seven weeks, and then Walter Reed for eleven months of intensive rehabilitation for his catastrophic injuries.

Adam with his wife Carrie and son Evan

Now, a little more than six years since his new life began, Adam and his wife Carrie have a young son named Evan, he is the vice-president of Operation Second Chance, a nonprofit created to serve other wounded veterans, and he is an avid motorcyclist. But for the Marine who once had the honor and responsibility of serving a tour on the presidential protection detail at Camp David,  there is another goal left unfulfilled until now. He wants to be a pilot.

In his scholarship application he wrote, “Like everything else in my life I believed I could accomplish the goal of becoming an aviator but recognized serious hurdles when it comes to learning to fly with my injuries. The Able Flight Scholarship would afford me the opportunity to learn how to fly safely in a modified aircraft that I never thought would be available. Furthermore, I would be learning to fly from an experienced group of individuals that recognize disabilities being more of an opportunity than a disqualification. ”

Sgt. Adam Kisielewski

With his work at Operation Second Chance keeping him close to Walter Reed, Adam’s training will take place near his home in Frederick, Maryland with the assistance of instructors Dave Hirschman  (Senior Editor of AOPA PILOT Magazine), and former Air Force Colonel, Vietnam vet and  F-16 test pilot, Dean Stickell.

Adam will learn to fly in a Flight Design trainer being provided to Able Flight under contract from Northampton Aeronautics of the Northampton Airport in Massachusetts. The Flight Design is owned by Joe D’Aguair who was very supportive of  this important mission. Of their decision to send the plane to Frederick, Rich MacIssac of Northampton said, “We believe in exposing as many people as possible to aviation. One way we do this is by proving how accessible aviation can be. The opportunity to work with Able Flight and provide our Flight Design  CTLS with the hand controls is a perfect example of that.”

“Adam’s story is a powerful reminder of the sacrifice and the spirit of the many men and women who serve in harm’s way, and their willingness to risk everything”, said Charles Stites of Able Flight. “He is a determined young man who tells all who will listen that he feels that he has been given so much by having the opportunity to serve. Well, now it’s our opportunity to give back by helping Adam realize his dream of leaning to fly.”

UPDATE: Adam’s training  began in late February and is going very well.

www.operationsecondchance.org    www.northamptonaeronautics.com

(Photos courtesy AOPA PILOT & Adam Kisielewski)

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.