A great way to save GA airports

Salty

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Dec 21, 2016
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Salty
I was honored to fly a relief mission to Southern Louisiana yesterday and take them some much needed supplies. If it weren't for the small local airport (GAO), we would not have been able to get drinking water and other necessities to the area. The roads have been impassable to this area for days.

Aerobridge.org is doing a great job coordinating a relief effort. I flew from Tampa to Pensacola where folks from Aerobridge had supplies ready to load that were donated from local charities around that area.

I stopped in Pennsacola, helped load a couple of other planes, and then put 500 pounds of water in my plane and headed to GAO. There was a group of volunteers at GAO collecting the supplies and taking them to distribution centers closer to the population. They were amazingly upbeat after what they've been through, and extremely grateful for the help.

I was a little leery of Aerobridge as I couldn't find a lot of information about them online, but I was impressed with the work they are doing, and am very glad I could be a small part of it. I wish I could have flown more missions, but it was a full day of flying for me as it was, starting out in Tampa. I recommend signing up for Aerobridge flights if you're interested in this type of thing. Generally, you do have to be ready to respond quickly. Most roads are opening today, so the need for small aircraft is pretty much over by now.

So, here's proof against those that say a Mooney can't haul. I had to remove my front seat to fit it all in. I was within a few pounds of max gross and pretty darn close to aft CG, but I was happy with the amount I managed to carry.

2021-09-04 13.58.36.jpg

Pictures of some of the damage in the area. It was shocking how little you cold use waterways as navigation aids since pretty much everything was water....

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Good pirep. I started following aerobridge on FB to try & see if they are legit. I feel like my plane might be useful for missions like this, although the gulf is a long haul for me this time of year.

Do they have any requirements for pilots & aircraft?
 
Good pirep. I started following aerobridge on FB to try & see if they are legit. I feel like my plane might be useful for missions like this, although the gulf is a long haul for me this time of year.

Do they have any requirements for pilots & aircraft?
They do, but they aren't very high. I think 250 hours is about it. Check aerobridge.org
 
Wow that airplane!
It's a particularly sad story. I met the owner. He just bought it two weeks ago and happened to fly it in two days before the storm hit.
 
It's a particularly sad story. I met the owner. He just bought it two weeks ago and happened to fly it in two days before the storm hit.

Awww geeeez.
 
Here’s my W&B. I literally couldn’t have fit another case, in fact I had one more in and took it out after running the numbers 3 times to be sure. I was 16 pounds under gross and pretty far aft. It flew like crap loaded like that. Had a heck of a time holding altitude in the turbulence.
3E52474D-981C-474B-902C-249267D74E20.jpeg
 
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