amputee

[tulsa]

Does ayone out there know of / is an amputee that flys commercialy? I would like to get info from anyone that is or knows of an above the knee amputee. More to the point , how do you activater the toe brakes on the affected side?

[Flyboy737]

Contact [email protected] he will be able to give more datail!

[Snakum]

I know of one, flying for a rather large corporate operator at a small airport in the states. He flys Chieftans and King Airs (single pilot ops) and as an FO on a Citation. He is an ATP with over 10K hours, so it IS do'able.

Best of luck.

Snakum

[Remmington]

Seemed OK for Douglas Bader

[Deadleg]

We have a DHC8 Captain in BA CitiExpress who is missing his left arm from below the elbow.
Very good pilot, better than most who have 2 arms.

[tulsa]

Douglas Bader only had the Germans to worry about, not transport canada :D

[Iceman49]

Had a neighbor in MIA who was a double amputee who worked for Saudia.

[Bodie]

Lets face it, we're all amputees after flying. It costs an arm and a leg.

[McD]

I'm bringing this thread back to the top for Tulsa, who is still looking for helpful information regarding pilots who are amputees.

Many of you know, know of, or work with pilots who meet this criteria. Also, some of you may know of people who have tried to qualify as a pilot, but can not due to the extent of their injury/loss. Can anyone provide Tulsa with useful info, anecdotes, or points of contact?

Yes, Tulsa is aware of the need to contact the governing medical authorities, but perhaps is also looking for people who have achieved success as a pilot after they've lost a leg.

[ausdoc]

I've been involved in the return to flying of a bilateral below-knee amputee. A lot of static, ground and in-flight assessments were made. These included pre-flight, taxiing, normal procedures, abnormal and emergency procedures, and emergency egress. His only restriction now is a requirement to have a formal check-out on each type. He has a CPL(A & H), MECIR. He's now flown squirrel, UH1-H, Blackhawk and King Air. He's learned to get around the braking problem, and has no difficulty with applying progressive brake pressure.

Obviously he is a very motivated guy, but it demonstrates that it is entirely possible. What part of the world are you from tulsa?

[411A]

And Douglas Aircraft chief test pilot as well.
Ben O. (Benny) Howard.
WWII ace, lost a leg in the process, and had a very sucessful career with Douglas as chief test pilot, DC-6/DC-7.

Just prior to the first flight of the DC-6, he backed the aircraft up using reverse, much to the annoyment of Donald Douglas Sr.
When asked later about this, Howard mentioned...'it'll sell more, airlines and pilots will appreciate the reliability of prop reverse.'
And so they did. The DC-6 sold like hotcakes.

[WASALOADIE]

An old military collegue of mine was involved in a crash some years ago which resulted in him losing one of his legs just below the knee. He returned to flying and is able to apply the brakes OK. I believe he is still flying and instructing, must be 15-18 years now.