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!

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.

(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.

Sgt. Chris Gschwendtner

Sergeant Chris Gschwendtner felt  fortunate that he had suffered “only a concussion”  after an explosion destroyed his vehicle on the infamous “IED Alley”, the highway from Baghdad to the  city’s international airport. It was Valentine’s Day of 2008, and the young infantryman had escaped with body and spirit intact. But, not for long.

Less than five weeks later, Chris was in the shower room at his base when insurgents fired a  rocket into the compound, and when he came to, covered in glass and building debris, Chris wasn’t able to respond to the questions of his rescuers.

After being airlifted  to a hospital, he learned that he had sustained a second Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), the common but hidden injury so prevalent in  modern war.  Because  he wanted  to return home with his unit, after his  time in the hospital he convinced his superiors to allow him to remain in Iraq a few more weeks. But returning to the States didn’t end his service, now Chris  is a member of the U.S. Army Reserves.

Though the Army was still happy to allow the young man to remain in service,  because of his injuries they continually denied his request for a transfer to an Army flight training program. So, on his own, and at his own expense, Chris earned a Sport Pilot Certificate by training at Chesapeake Sport Aviation at the Bay Bridge Airport near Washington, DC. From January to March of 2011 he trained with instructor Helen Woods, and though studying no longer comes as easily as it did when he earned a business degree from Penn State, Chris re-doubled his efforts and excelled in his training.

Learning to fly fulfilled a childhood dream for Chris, and created another, that of becoming an aviation mechanic. With his selection as the second recipient of an Able Flight Career Training Scholarship, he’ll  soon  begin training at Rainbow Aviation in California for certification as a Light Sport Repairmen with a Maintenance Rating.

With a pilots license already earned, and a career in aviation ahead of him, Chris plans to use his accomplishments to encourage other wounded veterans to explore aviation as a way to challenge themselves. In his application essay he wrote, “I feel like if I win this scholarship I can inspire people not to give up. Especially since TBI has become one of the most common injuries resulting from the war on terrorism. I have learned if there is something in life that you want, you have to have the drive to make it happen no matter what. You can make your dreams a reality; no one else is able to do it for you. After having my hopes and dreams crushed I did not accept defeat or give up. I just knew I had to pick myself up and try harder.”

(L-R) Kevin Crombie, Paul Lampasso, Eric Ingram, Jermaine Strachan, Charles Stites

Kevin Crombie, Eric Ingram and Jermaine Strachan were awarded their Able Flight Wings on July 26th in a ceremony at EAA AirVenture. Joining them were Paul Lampasso, Able Flight’s first recipient of a Career Training Scholarship and Aaron Michaels of Purdue University, Able Flight’s 2011 Flight Instructor of the Year.

Front (L-R) Eric Ingram & Kevin Crombie, Back (L-R) Justin Lowe, Jermaine Strachan, Korel Cudmore, Aaron Michaels & Derek Stewart

When four Able Flight scholarship winners arrived at Purdue University’s campus and airport in West Lafayette, Indiana in late May, they had just a few well-defined goals and a singular mission. They were there to meet their instructors, learn about their airplanes and immediately start flying because they had less than five weeks to go from novice students to licensed pilots. Then the rain came.

For five straight days northwestern Indiana was on the edge of the huge and damaging storms that devastated towns and rural areas in the Midwest. If it wasn’t rain it was winds and low ceilings that kept Eric Ingram, Kevin Crombie, Korel Cudmore and SPC Jermaine Strachan grounded. But with their  flight instructors Aaron Michaels, Justin Lowe, Derek Stewart ,Greg Taylor, and ground school instructor Geoff Aschberger, they made the best use of their time by beginning their studies for the knowledge test (later they would all pass it on the same day).

Finally the weather cleared and the first flights began. Over the next weeks the pace quickened and it began to appear that they might all finish and go for their checkrides on schedule near the end of June. But soon, even more  wind and rain, necessary time off to inspect airplanes, and a few small mechanical issues began to disrupt the new schedule. Once again, the students and instructors doubled their efforts, and during the last week of June Kevin Crombie of Virginia became the first to pass his checkride.

“There’s no doubt that the first ten days or so of the five week program were hard for all involved,” said Charles Stites, executive director of Able Flight. ” Everyone at Purdue was living the frustration every day, and I was  home in NC watching the radar and  wondering when they would get a break. But all along the way I was getting reassuring messages from Bernie Wulle, my chief contact at Purdue, and the person on site who runs the program. Bernie would be probably be too kind to admit that he wasn’t looking forward to my near daily calls, but he was constant in his belief that everything would work out, and when it counted, he and his team came through wonderfully.”

Kevin Crombie just after first solo

Wulle managed the program last year and again this year, and said of the effort by the students and instructors,” I think all the credit goes to the students and instructors for not letting anything get them down or stop them from completing their training. Purdue University and the Department of Aviation Technology have made every effort to attract, welcome and support the students and give them an opportunity to display their talents and skills. If the aviation industry is to advance to a higher level, it must embrace the abilities these young men and women possess.”

The two trainer aircraft  for this year’s program were a Sky Arrow 600 LSA  equipped with hand controls and provided by Philly Sport Pilot of Wilmington, Delaware, and a Flight Design CT provided by Peak Aviation Center of Colorado Springs. In advance of the student’s arrivals, instructors Wynn Grainger of Philly Sport Pilot and Chad Troxler of Peak Aviation ferried the planes from their home bases to Purdue and then checked out two Purdue instructors in each of the planes.

The  Peak Aviation Center CT is the first in the U.S. to receive newly-available hand controls for Flight Design aircraft, but as the installation schedule was uncertain as the training was set to begin, all of the training for Crombie and Ingram (who both use wheelchairs) was conducted in the adapted Sky arrow. Cudmore who is deaf, and Strachan who is a wounded veteran still capable of flying an airplane with rudder pedals both earned their licenses in the CT.

In addition to the primary instructors, Wulle called on Robert “Mitch” Grundman to step in for stage check flights, a real

(L-R) Eric Ingram, Korel Cudmore, Jermaine Strachan & Kevin Crombie

advantage and confidence builder for the students. And with the two airplanes accumulating a lot of hours, both had to be taken off line for maintenance and inspections, a task ably handled by Brian Strim. Near the end of the project the CT developed a quirky radio problem just as Strachan was about to complete his solo work, and Joshua D. Wright  of  Lafayette Avionics generously put the CT at the front of the line in his shop and fixed the glitch at no charge.

Said Stites, ” Even with planning that began almost as soon as the last year’s project was completed, and with arrangements for training aircraft, travel and everything else that could be anticipated taken care of months in advance, you still have to have students, instructors and staff that are flexible and have the attitude that nothing will prevent the Able Flight scholarship students from having every opportunity for success. And those are the people we had at Purdue. After our second year of doing this at Purdue we have a 100% success rate, and you just can’t do any better than that.”

(L-R) Rob Riggen of Flying High Coffee & Charles Stites of Able Flight

Building a new business in aviation is hard enough as it is, and when you decide to give away 30% of your profits, you’ve given yourself an extra hill to climb. But, when he created Flying High Coffee, Rob Riggen of Vermont wasn’t afraid to dive in to the highly competitive world of selling gourmet coffee, and he wasn’t worried worried that he was digging a hole for himself by giving almost a third of the company’s profits to aviation charities, including Able Flight.

During EAA AirVenture 2011 Riggen and his family were some of the busiest people on the grounds, rising well before sunrise to prepare fresh-brewed coffee  for a number of the exhibitor and vendor locations, and for their own very busy booth. Still, Riggen found time  for a press conference to announce his company’s support for Able Flight, and before the week was over  he delivered Flying High Coffee’s first contribution to the Able Flight Scholarship Fund.

The former flight instructor  is ambitious in his goal of becoming the supplier of fresh roasted coffees to every pilot who needs a “daily lift”.  It’s his goal to build a business that also gives back to aviation with every order placed. To order great coffee and help Able Flight at the same time,  visit Flying High Coffee.