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MISSION STATEMENT |
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'The Air Care
Alliance promotes, supports, and represents
public benefit flying through communication and
cooperation among organizations facilitating flights
for health, compassion, and community service." |
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WINNERS ANNOUNCED! |
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NAA AND AIR CARE ALLIANCE ANNOUNCE RECIPIENTS OF
2009 PUBLIC BENEFIT FLYING AWARDS
Washington,
DC
July 7,
2009
The
National Aeronautic Association, in partnership with
the Air Care Alliance,
a
nationwide league of humanitarian flying
organizations, is proud to announce the recipients
of the 2009 National Public Benefit Flying
Awards.
Distinguished Volunteer Pilot - Mack
Secord, Angel Flight of Georgia
Distinguished Volunteer -
Robert J. Munley, Wings of Mercy (Michigan)
Outstanding Achievement in Public Benefit Flying
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Corporate Angel Network
These
prestigious awards will be presented at the
special "Above and Beyond" Awards Ceremony,
at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 10, 2009,
in the Lyndon B. Johnson room of the U.S.
Senate.
The
Public Benefit Flying Awards were created to
honor volunteer pilots, other volunteers, and
their organizations engaged in flying to help
others, and those supporting such work. Since
2003 dozens of awards have been presented at the
celebratory Above and Beyond Awards Ceremony,
held each fall in the United States Capitol
Building.
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JOIN OUR LIST |
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ACA CONFERENCE
SAVE THE DATE |
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Angel Flight West
invites you to attend
Air Care 2010
April
16-17, 2010.
Reno, Nevada
Reno is aptly known as the "Biggest Little City in
the World." Home of the famed Reno Air Races, Reno
boasts of fine dining, river adventures, exciting
casinos, fabulous shows, challenging golf and
more. Our conference will be held at the lovely
Siena Hotel, Spa and Casino, a beautiful boutique
hotel on the Truckee River on the edge of downtown
Reno.
While the conference agenda
is still in the planning stages, we can mention
now that the closing banquet will be held in the
famed National Automobile Museum (The Harrah
Collection), a phenomenal collection of over 200
cars dating as far back as the 1920's. It is just
across the street from our hotel. We will have the
museum to ourselves for our social hour and
dinner, with plenty of time to stroll among these
unique vehicles.
Take a look at
www.automuseum.org
Reno is easily accessed
by multiple commercial air carriers. For those
wishing to fly themselves to Reno, our good
friends at Mercury Air Center will welcome you and
will take good care of you and your airplane.
Ink this weekend in your calendar for a
magnificent conference and an exciting visit to
the "Biggest Little City in the World."
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ACA LISTS |
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2009 -
2010
Officers
Rol Murrow
ACA Board Chairman
Emergency Volunteer
Air Corps
Lindy Kirkland
ACA President
Angel Flight East
Jeanine Biron
ACA Executive Vice President
Angel Flight of Georgia
Jim Weaver
ACA Vice President
Angel Flight West
Keith Laken
ACA Secretary
LifeLine Pilots
Jeff Kahn
ACA Treasurer
Angel Flight East
Directors
Tami Bream
Angel Flight of Georgia
Rick Durden
LightHawk
Sandy Johnson
Angel Flight of Georgia
Dan Meyer
LightHawk
Kevin Sell
Volunteer Pilots Association
Gary St. Peter
Operation Angel Planes
of Rhode Island
Bill Worden
ACA President Emeritus
Angel Flight West
& EVAC
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ACA LISTS |
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See who already
flies with us!
Dozens and dozens of groups serve
our communities and those in need, including
international, national, regional, and statewide
groups - and even small local groups with just a
few pilots serving their immediate area. We
provided a long list of these groups at the
Fly4Life tent and exhibits at AirVenture.
The Air Care Alliance lists
and makes referrals to all the
groups we can find. If your volunteer pilot
organization is not on the Air Care Alliance
Listings Page at
Air Charity Network
Air Mercy
AirLifeLine of Texas
Airlift Hope
Angel Flight Australia
Angel Flight Central
Angel Flight East
Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic
Angel Flight Northeast
Angel Flight of Alberta
Angel Flight of Georgia
Angel Flight of Oklahoma
Angel Flight of Vancouver Island
Angel Flight Southeast (Florida)
Angel Flight West
Aviation for Humanity
Bahamas Habitat
Brigade Air
Cair Flight
Challenge Air for Kids
Children's Flight of Hope
Christian Air Ministry
Civil Air Patrol
Corporate Angel Network
EAA Young Eagles
Emergency Volunteer Air Corps
Flights For Life
Flying Paws
Flying Samaritans
Freedom Flight
GivingFlite
Grace Flight of America
Grace on Wings
Great Commission Air
His Wings Aviation Ministries
Honor Flight
Hope Air
Hope Flight Foundation
Houston Ground Angels
International Shrine Aviation Association
Kids Wings
LifeLine Pilots
Liga - Flying Doctors of Mercy
LightHawk
Los Medicos Voladores
MedFlight of Indiana
Mercy Flight of Indiana
Mercy Flight Southeast
Mercy Medical Airlift and
Affiliates
Miracle Flights for Kids
Missions Made Possible
North Carolina Baptist Men Aviation Ministry
Northwoods AirLifeLine
Oklahoma Baptist Men Aviation Ministry
One Heart Mission Services
Pilots For Christ, International
Pilots for Patients
Pilots n Paws
Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corps
Servant Air Ministries
SkyArk
SkyDoc
SouthWings
Veterans Airlift Command
Volunteer Mercy Pilots
Volunteer Pilots Association
Wings For Children
Wings of Hope
Wings of Mercy - East Michigan
Wings of Mercy - Michigan
Wings of Mercy - Minnesota
Yavapai County Sheriff's Air
Group
Youth With a Mission
...and more to come forward!
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Official Newsletter of the Air Care Alliance |
August 2009 |
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Greetings!
Working Together is
Best!
Recently we have been hearing more and
more about the value of collaboration
among aviation-minded organizations.
We at ACA couldn't agree more with
this idea!
The Air Care Alliance was founded
following the first public benefit
flying conference in 1990, with the
idea of partnerships, collaboration,
and sharing of ideas as being a core
value central to our mission.
As many of you have experienced,
individuals in nonprofit groups,
governmental entities, colleges, and
other well-meaning organizations
occasionally tend to focus on
single-mindedly building their own
groups. Sometimes this is at the
expense of others, and sometimes even
to the detriment of those in need -
who should hear about all the
resources that may be available to
help them.
Most pilots, other volunteers, and
leaders of the public benefit flying
groups could not care less about that
kind of thinking. Almost all the
folks involved want one thing: to have
their skills, their aircraft, and
their time put to use helping those in
need and serving their communities.
In fact, many pilots and others
volunteer for more than one group.
We all just saw the value of
collaboration and sharing at the
wonderful EAA Fly4Life tents and
exhibits at AirVenture 2009.
Volunteers from many different groups
joined hands to promote all the
groups, in the spirit of mutual
support and appreciation.
I find it very gratifying to see so
many groups linking flights, referring
clients to one another, and freely
sharing ideas at our Air Care
conferences and other venues. That
kind of spirit builds public support
for our cause, our groups, and for
general aviation; and, as Fly4Life
team leader Bob Warner noted, in the
long run "floats all boats."
Rol Murrow
Chairman of the Board
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President's Message |
ACA, AOPA, NAA, etc. 
Members of the Air Care Alliance and the
Fly4Life committee presented several forums on
Public Benefit Flying and we had the opportunity
to speak to many aviation media outlets to tell
our story. Additionally, the Monday night feature
presentation at the Theater in the Woods was an
all-star panel of people involved in Mission
Aviation and Public Benefit Aviation. Throughout
the week, we had scores of potential new
volunteers come in and ask how they can get
involved. We have compiled this list and your
groups should be seeing it soon so you can contact
those in your area and get them involved
In between all the activities of Air Venture, Rol
and I and others had an opportunity to talk with
many leaders in the aviation community about
Public Benefit Flying. We spoke with Craig Fuller
of the AOPA, Tom Poberezney of the EAA and
numerous representatives from the FAA and NTSB
about issues that are of interest to us all.
Without exception, these leaders expressed high
praise for the great work you are doing and the
positive image you are portraying of general
aviation to the world.
Just prior to AirVenture the Air Care Alliance and
the National Aeronautic Association jointly chose
members of the selection committee for the
National Public Benefit Flying awards. With many
outstanding nominations available,they selected
three very deserving award recipients for
recognition this year. In partnership with the NAA,
we will be hosting the national awards ceremony in
the Lyndon B. Johnson room on the Senate side of
the U.S. Capitol Building on September 10th to
honor these incredible people and organizations.
Please see the articles below for more information
and join us in Washington, DC for this premier
event if you can. As we move closer to 2010, I
highly encourage all of you to nominate those
among your groups you feel are deserving of this
special recognition.
In conjunction with the awards ceremony, your ACA
Board of Directors will be holding their Fall
meeting on September 11th and 12th at the NAA
offices in Washington, DC. One of the most
pressing issues is to continue moving toward an
updated web presence for the Air Care Alliance and
we will be working diligently on that issue and
several others during this time.
Early in the summer, Rol and I met with several
senior AOPA staff members at the AOPA Headquarters
in Frederick, MD and discussed several initiatives
to further promote Public Benefit Flying. One of
the outcomes of that meeting was that AOPA helped
sponsor our tent at AirVenture by providing the
audio-visual resources that were a central part of
our display. AOPA wants to continue telling the
good news of Public Benefit Flying and has invited
the Air Care Alliance to present a forum at the
Aviation Summit in Tampa this November.
So, while the economy still struggles, just know
that your continued efforts are paying large
dividends of goodwill for all of general
aviation.
Keep up the great work and fly safe! Lindy
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Over to Oshkosh, WI |
High
Fives for Fly4Life!
A Report from Rol Murrow
Bob Warner, an old friend and colleague
from EAA, called and asked if the Air
Care Alliance would support a new
AirVenture theme this year, called
Fly4Life. Fly4Life would celebrate both
volunteer pilot based Public Benefit
Aviation as well as faith-based Mission
Aviation. EAA very generously donated
to each team a large tent and display
space on the edge of Aeroshell Square -
about the best location one could ever
hope for! I asked our ACA President
Lindy Kirkland, board member Keith Laken,
and Christel Gollnick of Angel Flight
Central to join the Public Benefit
Aviation team. Bob asked Cody Welch,
President of Wings of Mercy in East
Michigan and a longtime pilot and
supporter of EAA's Trimotor flights, to
join and act as our EAA liaison.
Christel, Lindy, Jessica Day of Angel
Flight of Georgia, and I worked together
to develop banners, presentation videos,
and a new Fly4Life website. Keith
brought loads of tools and materials,
and provided his Mooney for our four
aircraft displays. He also arranged for
thousands of Fly4Life buttons to be
printed and donated by LifeLine Pilots
and the supplying company. His grandson
Marshall was a real trooper helping
wherever we needed him.
Bob was the project lead for both tents
and worked with Cody to get local
supplies and to scrounge other
necessities from EAA. Our team arrived a
week early and worked like crazy to
finish the tent exhibits on time. AOPA
provided the video monitors and
equipment. Various groups sent us their
videos and photos to use. A grant from
the Wolf Aviation Fund covered many
exhibit costs. Several individuals and
organizations provided display
aircraft. And many tireless volunteers
spent countless hours with us working
various shifts, explaining the work of
the volunteer pilots to those attending
AirVenture.
On AirVenture opening day the Theatre in
the Woods featured a presentation by
four noted humanitarian pilots, two from
Mission Aviation and two from Public
Benefit Aviation. Their stories were
well received (photo below).
In addition to introducing many, many
folks to the world of public benefit
flying, we enjoyed visits from a number
of folks who will likely be very
supportive in the future. As he had
previously promised, Craig Fuller of
AOPA met with us, and quickly grasped
the importance of our work and the need
for a common voice speaking for public
benefit flying.
Lindy arranged a visit from Timothy
Burtch, an NTSB official from
Washington, and we discussed how NTSB
currently views volunteer pilot
operations, and productive ways of
emphasizing a culture of safety among
groups.
I worked with EAA's Randy Hansen to
set up a meeting with FAA reps, and
both the recently Acting (now deputy)
and the newly appointed Manager of
General Aviation Flight Standards Anne
Graham and Mel Cintron came by the
tent and learned about our work and
concerns. They noted they had been
pressed by various groups for special
treatment or varying standards, and
said they much preferred to work with
an umbrella organization, to gain
consensus among the groups on system
wide needs rather than having to react
to a bunch of different voices wanting
different things.
At Fly4Life: Lindy
Kirkland, AOPA President Craig Fuller
and Rol Murrow
Lindy and I both had the opportunity
to meet at different times with EAA's
Paul and Tom Poberezny too. Tom said
he was looking forward to our
participation next year,and Bob said
he heard the same thing from other
staffers. It is a nice tribute to all
our Fly4Life volunteers that EAA wants
us back!
During the week and during teardown
discussions we all agreed this was a
wonderful opportunity for ACA and all the
groups we support. The event furthered
our efforts encouraging groups to work
together. We made many new friends, and I
think the various group representatives
were very impressed with the way we
promoted them.
All the volunteer pilots and their
groups owe EAA a million thanks for
devoting so much staff time and
AirVenture resources to promote
humanitarian aviation and the work of
all those devoting their skills,
aircraft, and time, flying to help
others!
For more pictures, scroll to the end of
the newsletter. Thank you all!
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My passenger said, "I had no idea!" |
Southwings
Member Profile (Asheville, NC)
SouthWings depends on an
eleven-state network of volunteer pilots
in the Southeast. Our pilots come from all
walks of life, but all share concern for
environmental issues and love to fly!
Founded in 1996, SouthWings is a
conservation and public benefit aviation
non-profit that provides skilled pilots and
aerial education to enhance conservation
efforts across the Southeast. Our team and
our service are unique, combining the
knowledge of conservation issues with
experienced piloting skills. We enable those
we fly to better understand, from an
otherwise inaccessible vantage point, the
globally significant ecosystems of the
Southeast. Through the aerial perspective,
SouthWings' service provides experiential
understanding of environmental challenges
and opportunities for conservation. This
perspective fosters understanding of
scale/magnitude, and the relationships of
cumulative and compounding environmental
effects. We provide a means to educate
public and elected officials, media,
community leaders, researchers and
conservation organizations.
"I Had No Idea..."
The most frequent comment we hear from
passengers after a flights is - I had no
idea. Why? The bird's eye view from a small
plane provides a unique opportunity. We
enable those we fly to see beauty and
human-induced landscape change in our
environment from another, otherwise
inaccessible, vantage point. Utilizing the
aerial perspective, SouthWings' service
provides experiential understanding of
environmental challenges and opportunities
for conservation. This perspective fosters
understanding of scale/magnitude and the
relationship of cumulative and compounding
environmental effects. We provide a means to
educate public and elected officials, media,
community leaders, researchers and
conservation organizations.
Experience a virtual SouthWings flight
here.
For more information on Southwings, an ACA
member, please visit their website at
www.southwings.org
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ACA Membership - You Belong Here! |
Join the Discussion!
by Sandy
Johnson
ACA Board
Member & Membership Committee Chair
As we continue to work on an ACA transition plan
to expand our work and recruit new member
organizations, we need your help. If we know
what you expect, we can - within reason - frame
our growth to capture those expectations in
member benefits.
The ACA Board of Directors will be talking
extensively about membership at our fall retreat
in September. To represent your voice in that
discussion, I will need some input from you.
Q: If your group is a paid
member of the ACA, please tell me what you feel
are the benefits of that membership and what
added benefits you would find most attractive.
Q: If you are a public benefit
flying organization but not a paid member of the
ACA, tell me what we could do differently to
secure your support?
Click here to download the new
member group form
Current areas of benefits an ACA
membership will give your
PBF organization:
Networking and engagement
Awards and recognition
Advocacy
Information distribution and knowledge collection
Volunteer opportunities
I encourage you to share your thoughts and ACA
membership ideas with me at
sandy.johnson@aircareall.org so that you have
a voice in this discussion.
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General email:
mail@aircareall.org
Office Phone and Patient Transport Help Line:
Toll Free: 888-260-9707
Office Fax: 815-572-9192
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