AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2015 - 36

PILOT BRIEFING
AOPA FOUNDATION

GIVING BACK |

Giving Back
grant
recipients

CAP shows
compassion
Civil Air Patrol pilots add compassion flights
B Y J E F F VA N W E S T

ANNIE BEAULIEU looked at a group of
parked airplanes and saw potential. "You
could tell they were maintained, but
weren't being flown much. I thought, Does
anyone do anything with these airplanes?
Then I thought this might be the solution
we were looking for."
Beaulieu was in search of pilots and aircraft for Patient Airlift Services (PALS),
to fly patients with noncritical medical
needs from across Maine to and from the
medical Mecca that is Boston. Beaulieu
and her PALS partner, Jim Platz, can log
1,000 hours a year in Platz's Cessna 414,
but there's even more need. There usually
are 200 PALS flights a month from Maine
alone.
The seemingly idle airplanes belonged
to the U.S. Air Force. They were Cessnas
operated by the Civil Air Patrol. Beaulieu
told Platz she would simply ask CAP if its
pilots and airplanes could be used for compassion flights, such as PALS missions.
CAP Col. Dan Leclair, commander of
the Northeast Region and a Maine resident,
said he liked the idea and would present it
to CAP leadership. "Our organization likes
to see 200 hours a year on an airplane,"

36 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

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said Leclair. "Sometimes we have to place
an aircraft somewhere for strategic reasons and it's hard to get proper utilization.
Helping our local citizens was my primary
motivation."
He coordinated with PALS and Angel
Flight-a similar compassion-flight organization-as well as the CAP national
commander, CAP Operations, and the
USAF General Council. Requesting a CAP
aircraft for compassion flights is now
an option for CAP pilots in all 50 states.
Pilots sign up for a mission on the PALS
or Angel Flight website. Then they submit
a request to the CAP National Ops Center,
as they would for any CAP flight. When
the approval comes back-usually within
24 hours-they're set.
CAP's training and currency system are
accepted by PALS and Angel Flight in lieu
of those organizations' training requirements. However, pilots still must meet the
experience minimums of the medical airlift organization they're partnering with,
which may be more stringent than CAP.
"Most of our pilots like to fly with a
purpose. This is another mission that gives
pilots a reason to fly," Leclair said.

The AOPA Foundation awards Giving Back grants of up to $10,000 to
worthy causes that help promote
aviation education and safety, help
preserve airports, increase the pilot
population, and/or facilitate charitable work being done through
general aviation. These organizations and their missions will receive grants in 2016:
* Build A Plane. AOPA Foundation
grant funds will be used to implement an aircraft-building project
designed to be a gang intervention
program. Participants will refurbish
an Aeronca Champ to airworthiness
over a 12-month period. Upon completion of the project, participants
will be given flight training in the
completed Champ, which qualifies
as a Light Sport aircraft.
* Hope Flight Foundation. The
Hope Flight Foundation provides
lifesaving flights for seriously ill
children and AOPA Foundation
grant funds will be used to cover
upcoming flights in California,
Nevada, and Oregon. When costly
ambulance rides and commercial air
transport are not an option, Hope
Flight provides a solution.
* Sophie Gerson Healthy Youth.
AOPA Foundation grant funds will
fund a weeklong Aviation and Space
Camp at the New York City Center
for Space Science Education. The
camp will be available to more than
30 low-income students from New
York middle schools. Students will
explore the principles of flight, train
on flight simulators, build and fly
model airplanes, and take part in
simulated space missions.
www.aopafoundation.org/giving-back
http://www.aopafoundation.org/giving-back
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2015
