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Charles Stites

Record Setting Number of Scholarships!

Johnny Ragland of North Carolina
Johnny Ragland of NC

In its 10th anniversary year, Able Flight has awarded a record-setting eight scholarships so that people with disabilities can become licensed pilots. The recipients of the 2016 flight training scholarships come from throughout the country and face challenges from a variety of physical disabilities.

This year’s class will train at Able Flight’s program at Purdue University and includes seven people who use wheelchairs due to the effects of injuries, and a young woman who is deaf.

Receiving scholarships are Johnny Ragland and Justin Falls of North Carolina, Ethan Daffron of Indiana, Scott Earley of Florida, Shafeeq Moore of Georgia, Bernard Dime of Arizona, Trevor Denning of Texas, and Shavon McGlynn of New York.

Able Flight’s Charles Stites said, “When I have the pleasure of calling to notify applicants of their awards, I tell them that they are about to embark on a journey that will change their lives forever. Our program is demanding and challenging, and that’s because we work with our partners at Purdue’s Department of Aviation Technology to make it so. When our students become licensed pilots, they know they have earned it.”

This is the seventh consecutive year of Able Flight’s partnership with Purdue, and the graduates of the “Class of 2016” will be guests of honor when they receive their Able Flight Wings on stage at EAA AirVenture on Tuesday, July 26th at 11a.m., just weeks after becoming licensed pilots.

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.