Ted
The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2007
- Messages
- 29,933
- Display Name
Display name:
iFlyNothing
A few weeks ago when I did the Georgia Puppy Caravan, I'd said that I'd make a post giving some more detail about Cloud Nine Rescue Flights. It's been a busy couple of weeks, and I also wanted to get the website a little nicer before I made the post.
I joined Animal Rescue Flights last October, after Peggy had told me I should check them out. November I did my first flight, and quickly started doing a number of flights for them. Once I got the Aztec, it became clear that the kinds of flights I was now able to do with it were on a significantly grander scale than the standard flights I was doing with the Mooney. These larger planes actually end up being significantly more efficient on a $/animal basis, as despite burning twice as much fuel as I was in the Mooney for only a hair faster, I'm able to fit more than twice the number of animals I was previously. Our standard missions involve people doing couple hundred mile legs. However when you have a larger plane capable of bigger missions, it ends up meaning that you do the entire flight yourself. Not that I mind, it's a lot of fun and I love taking long XCs.
Extend this to Angel Flights as well. I still can (and prefer) doing the longer trips, and can fill some of the missions that are otherwise difficult to fill, with extra luggage and/or people.
Given my involvement, aircraft capabilities, and interest in doing as many of these as possible, I decided to start a non-profit organization to help fund the flights (following all applicable FAA regulations, of course), as it becomes difficult for any one person to fund the level of flights I aspire to do. For anyone who hasn't started a 501(c)3 before, it's certainly an involved process, but with help from some good people, I managed to get it done in a pretty short period of time.
The mission of Cloud Nine Rescue Flights is to be able to perform missions that others can't. Our goal is to never need to say no to a mission. Many ARF flights over long distances end up getting canceled due to weather, especially as most of our pilots aren't instrument rated. So far, a number of other pilots have had to cancel missions which I've been able to fill. In fact, on the last flight I ended up taking several extra animals vs. planned due to several VFR pilots canceling, and ended up flying to New Hampshire instead of the initial planned Orange County, NY. As I've been telling people, if I can get funding, I'll fly every single weekend.
At this point, we're in our infant stages. The biggest thing right now is getting the word out to try to get more support. This weekend's flight so far has virtually no funding, for example. Any help in terms of getting the word out and helping to get donations would be greatly appreciated. Especially if anyone has contacts with news agencies!
Anyone who's interested, have a look at the website. It includes some good pictures, all taken during actual missions I've flown:
http://www.cloudninerescueflights.org/
I joined Animal Rescue Flights last October, after Peggy had told me I should check them out. November I did my first flight, and quickly started doing a number of flights for them. Once I got the Aztec, it became clear that the kinds of flights I was now able to do with it were on a significantly grander scale than the standard flights I was doing with the Mooney. These larger planes actually end up being significantly more efficient on a $/animal basis, as despite burning twice as much fuel as I was in the Mooney for only a hair faster, I'm able to fit more than twice the number of animals I was previously. Our standard missions involve people doing couple hundred mile legs. However when you have a larger plane capable of bigger missions, it ends up meaning that you do the entire flight yourself. Not that I mind, it's a lot of fun and I love taking long XCs.
Extend this to Angel Flights as well. I still can (and prefer) doing the longer trips, and can fill some of the missions that are otherwise difficult to fill, with extra luggage and/or people.
Given my involvement, aircraft capabilities, and interest in doing as many of these as possible, I decided to start a non-profit organization to help fund the flights (following all applicable FAA regulations, of course), as it becomes difficult for any one person to fund the level of flights I aspire to do. For anyone who hasn't started a 501(c)3 before, it's certainly an involved process, but with help from some good people, I managed to get it done in a pretty short period of time.
The mission of Cloud Nine Rescue Flights is to be able to perform missions that others can't. Our goal is to never need to say no to a mission. Many ARF flights over long distances end up getting canceled due to weather, especially as most of our pilots aren't instrument rated. So far, a number of other pilots have had to cancel missions which I've been able to fill. In fact, on the last flight I ended up taking several extra animals vs. planned due to several VFR pilots canceling, and ended up flying to New Hampshire instead of the initial planned Orange County, NY. As I've been telling people, if I can get funding, I'll fly every single weekend.
At this point, we're in our infant stages. The biggest thing right now is getting the word out to try to get more support. This weekend's flight so far has virtually no funding, for example. Any help in terms of getting the word out and helping to get donations would be greatly appreciated. Especially if anyone has contacts with news agencies!
Anyone who's interested, have a look at the website. It includes some good pictures, all taken during actual missions I've flown:
http://www.cloudninerescueflights.org/
