Sudan: buy an aid pilot a beer, save a life.

[FNG]

Compassion fatigue creeps up on us all. We are bombarded by mailshots, hassled by street fundraisers working on commission, and fazed by daily exposure to media images of suffering and cruelty. Easy to become cynical, easy to pontificate about whose fault it all is, easy to say that we've paid our taxes and done our bit.

The Duxford D-Day episode showed how, if something strikes a nerve with us, we can rapidly mobilise, raise money, and right wrongs. I am not for a moment comparing Duxford to Darfur, but this appeal to fellow pilots seeks to engage your interest by asking you to consider the work done by the aid agency flyers: pilots flying beat up Cessnas, Maules and the like, in and out of dirt strips in all weathers, carrying precious cargoes of food, shelter and medication. These are some of the best pilots in the world, who have opted to turn their backs on cushy Captaincy, Singapore stopovers, and Porsche powered pay checks, in order to fly the relief missions for the aid agencies in the dark places of the world.

So, please, pop on over to http://www.dec.org.uk/, briefly brandish your credit card, then pop back here and post "back to the top" on this thread. Think of your donation as a pint of beer or a litre of avgas for one of those pilots, or, if you prefer, as a tarpaulin to shelter a family, a bag of rice to feed them, or a parcel of vital drugs to save the lives of people dying in thousands, in conditions of bestial inhumanity.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

[rustle]

Excellent idea, FNG, but can you edit your link to remove the comma at the end? Thanks.


BTW, BTTT :)

[FNG]

Thanks, Rustle, done.
BTTT

[TonyR]

Sometimes we think we have been hard done by, like when we have to get up off our arse and change the TV settings because we can't find the remote.

The cost of an aid agency cessna per hour is about the same as a club aircraft rental.

Think about it!

[skydriller]

FNG,

I get your sentiment, but your link isnt to anything mentioning aid agency flying at all.....

work done by the aid agency flyers: pilots flying beat up Cessnas, Maules and the like, in and out of dirt strips in all weathers, carrying precious cargoes of food, shelter and medication. These are some of the best pilots in the world, who have opted to turn their backs on cushy Captaincy, Singapore stopovers, and Porsche powered pay checks, in order to fly the relief missions for the aid agencies in the dark places of the world.


:confused:

A general plea for donations yes, but dont disguse it as something else, and is this the right place?.....

......as for buying an aid pilot a beer....I have in the past, and Id do so again...:ok:

Best Regards

SD..

[FNG]

Thanks a lot, skydriller, for your really warm, helpful and positive comments. The charities don't have designated websites for their pilots, nor their truck drivers, nor for their people who hump meal sacks in the rain, put up tents, dig latrines, and dig graves. What they do have is websites which make the act of giving as simple as a few mouse clicks and keystrokes.

Tony, best wishes to you as always.

[TonyR]

skydriller,

I can assure you that there will be pilots flying everything from Cessna 182s to C130s in Sudan today.

Most will be paid for by Aid Agencies and not by Government, If you don't wish to contribute to this then why say anything?

Tony

[Birdwatcher]

Thanks FNG for reminding me to do something I'd intended to do but hadn't got around to...

Birdwatcher

[FNG]

Cheers Birdwatcher. I was about to start wondering if everyone except Rustle, Tony and me was of a mind with skydriller, but you've restored my cheery faith in pilot nature.

[FNG]

Up early, up the page.

[Tall_guy_in_a_152]

back to the top ....

[BRL]

Going to have to close this I am afraid. Had a few people comment about this, here is one of them. This is the reason that the user gave: All good sentiments aside, and not wanting to knock FNGs efforts, but what does this really have to do with aviation? The link is not even to an aviation related relief charity like MAF mentioned briefly on one of the other threads. I think FNG said it himself - constantly bombarded by this - not on Private Flying forum too please!!! Best regards, and one of the better mods advised removing it when I asked for advice, but I will compromise by locking it and leaving it here for all to see.

and to clear things up this is what the admin said about the subject...... I think it should be removed. We have talked in the past of the dangers of allowing a Forum user to post such thing and then we open the floodgates for everyone\'s \'pet project\'. Before we know it we will be infested with online spam all over the place.

It\'s a kind of advertisement and shouldn\'t be there unless cleared by the Despots beforehand.