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Charles Stites

Randy Green: Happily Defying Other’s Expectations

IMG_3390For a man who was born without hands or feet, Randy Green looks at what others may see as challenges as just another opportunity to prove his abilities.  On March 4th, 2016, he added another major accomplishment to his list of aviation achievements when he earned a career-changing King Air 300 series type rating.

In 2015, Randy received an Able Flight Career Scholarship to earn his Air Transport rating (ATP). That scholarship was made possible through the support of ForeFlight. Now with another Able Flight Career Scholarship made possible by the very generous donation of NC-based training facility FlyRight, and with additional funding provided by the TBMOPA Foundation, Randy continues to move up the business aviation ladder.
The King Air type rating is considered  by those who have earned it as one of the more difficult ones to master,  and the more than two week course at FlyRight is demanding, both in the classroom and in their Class D simulator. Randy is quick to note that earning his type rating was considerably more difficult than earning his ATP rating, and the fact that he did both in less than a year speaks to his willingness to put in the long hours it takes to achieve advanced ratings.
Now, this father of two young girls will be in search of an opportunity to use his new King Air rating to continue to provide for his family through his aviation career. He has come a long way from his first hours in the Ercoupe that his late father bought so that Randy and his brother could become pilots. But there’s no doubt that with Randy Green, there are more successes to come.
Our congratulations to Randy on his outstanding achievement!

 

The Amazing Story Of Randy Green

Randy Green in cockpit of twin
Randy Green

In April, Randy Green passed a check ride to earn his Air Transport Rating, the highest level a pilot can achieve. And though it’s a select group of those who have reached this status, it’s not rare. Except for a man born without hands or feet.

Randy’s remarkable aviation career began when his pilot father bought an Ercoupe so that his sons could learn to fly. He earned his Private certificate in 1994 and quickly followed with Instrument, Commercial and Flight Instructor ratings. In his first year of instructing he logged over 1000 hours teaching others to fly. Using no special prosthetic devices on his arms to help him manipulate the controls, he continued to add to his ratings becoming qualified to both fly and instruct in twin-engine aircraft. And of course,  to fly as a Commercial pilot, Randy needed a second class medical and several Statement of Demonstrated Ability (SODA) flights with the FAA to prove he could safely operate all controls on various airplanes.

From the beginning, Randy’s goal wasn’t to fly an airliner, he wanted to be a corporate pilot, and he followed his plan of building hours and ratings until he was a good candidate for a job transporting company executives and their customers.  But even with his accomplishments and obvious qualifications, he faced a multitude of challenges and denials until  landing that first job; when a company took a leap of faith that was well-rewarded. And when that business sold their plane, he soon found another job flying a Cessna 421 twin for a Missouri company. Randy Green with Cessna 421

Randy knew that to move up in business aviation he would need an ATP rating. Enter Able Flight. With his Able Flight Career Training Scholarship,  in late April of 2015 Randy Green completed training at a Texas flight school and passed yet another flight test, and has now accepted a new position flying for an Idaho-based business.  That means a move for Randy, his wife and two young children; a move they are willing to make to continue his dream of using his aviation career to provide for his family.

Randy’s story of success is a testament to a father who knew what his son was capable of , and to a son who believed in himself.  Congratulations to our newest Able Flight pilot, Randy Green.

 

Able Flight Pilot Featured on CBS This Morning

Ryan Kelly was serving in  the Army in Iraq when an IED took his right leg below the knee.  During his recovery at Walter Reed he was visited by a pilot who used a prosthetic leg, and that was all the inspiration he needed to use aviation to rebuild his life.

He is now a Medevac pilot  flying an air ambulance helicopter in Texas. And with his Able Flight  scholarships, he has become a fixed wing Private Pilot and will soon have his commercial and multi-engine ratings.  CBS Morning News profiled Ryan in a feature on Memorial Day, 2014. Watch his amazing story of returning from a catastrophic injury to working to save the lives of others.

Able Flight has now helped seven other wounded veterans like Ryan become pilots, and three more wounded or disabled veterans are in training right now. If you want to help Able Flight help others like Ryan, please donate to our scholarship fund.