Angel Flight
Missions in WA see to be few and far between. Normally confined to the inner wheatbelt and southwest of the state. I guess a Qlink / VB ticket works out cheaper than the cost of the avgas for the longer flights and who want's to do anything up to 6 hrs in a bugsmasha to get from the Pilbara to Perth.
I often see flights come up where there are also RPT flightsd available.
I have asked Angel Flight about these and their opinion is that it is just as much a charity for pilots wanting to fly. There seems to be no shortage of pilots lining up for the missions.
I suggested I'd chip in $100 for the RPT ticket as there is no way I'd fly a 4 hour round trip to take pax to the big smoke in a bugsmasha (as you suggest).
Cheers
I have asked Angel Flight about these and their opinion is that it is just as much a charity for pilots wanting to fly. There seems to be no shortage of pilots lining up for the missions.
I suggested I'd chip in $100 for the RPT ticket as there is no way I'd fly a 4 hour round trip to take pax to the big smoke in a bugsmasha (as you suggest).
Cheers
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I suggested I'd chip in $100 for the RPT ticket
The average person is not going to donate $100 so some random sick person to get to hospital, but finding someone to donate their aircraft for a worthy cause - that's something that people will do.
In NSW when a VFR pilot gets grounded on the day because of weather, AF can usually get them on RPT. I think they have "deals" with some carriers.
I fly for fun. If I can help someone, and get my fuel paid for at the same time, why not? It still costs me more for my fun than the RPT ticket for the pax but I don't mind.
I fly for fun. If I can help someone, and get my fuel paid for at the same time, why not? It still costs me more for my fun than the RPT ticket for the pax but I don't mind.
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It does seem like a good cause but still a little strange to me;
Why pay for avgas if there is an RPT service?
What will happen when one of the Angel Flights crash?
The focus should be helping people get to hospital, not helping pilots fly.
Why pay for avgas if there is an RPT service?
What will happen when one of the Angel Flights crash?
The focus should be helping people get to hospital, not helping pilots fly.
Get off the grass.
Where are you going with the fishing expedition for negative stuff? Your post disrespects a whole range of people who give their time to help, none the least of whom are the earth angels who drive the passengers to and from airports and the allied organisations who arrange allied services such as accommodation.
Angel Flight does a powerful job for people in need. Frequently these people live in places not served by RPT, or have conditions that the airlines will be fussy about or travel with prams, walking aids & other things that airlines get uptight about. Or they need to travel as a family group, in which case fuel is cheap compared with the airlines. Other times it means one less night away from home for patients who are commonly kids.
If you want to tilt at windmills, ask why our healthcare is so heavily centralised that people need to travel to CBD locations for treatment.
I have wide experience with not for profit organisations and Angel Flight is one of the best I have seen.
Where are you going with the fishing expedition for negative stuff? Your post disrespects a whole range of people who give their time to help, none the least of whom are the earth angels who drive the passengers to and from airports and the allied organisations who arrange allied services such as accommodation.
Angel Flight does a powerful job for people in need. Frequently these people live in places not served by RPT, or have conditions that the airlines will be fussy about or travel with prams, walking aids & other things that airlines get uptight about. Or they need to travel as a family group, in which case fuel is cheap compared with the airlines. Other times it means one less night away from home for patients who are commonly kids.
If you want to tilt at windmills, ask why our healthcare is so heavily centralised that people need to travel to CBD locations for treatment.
I have wide experience with not for profit organisations and Angel Flight is one of the best I have seen.
Last edited by Old Akro; 23rd Jul 2010 at 06:56.
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Gaius Baltar:
RPT would probably be cheaper than Avgas, but many of the departure points are just too far from an RPT Airport, which would necessitate a land sector to get there. For somebody who's seriously unwell that can be very difficult for them.
I've done a number of Angel Flight "missions" and there is generally more than just one person being transported, so if two or three fares had to be met then Avgas is competitive.
If the patient is a child or a minor there's generally one of the parents along as well, or it might be Gran and the grandsons from a remote area visiting the Mom in ICU after major surgery.
A great cause that deserves all the support it can get.
RPT would probably be cheaper than Avgas, but many of the departure points are just too far from an RPT Airport, which would necessitate a land sector to get there. For somebody who's seriously unwell that can be very difficult for them.
I've done a number of Angel Flight "missions" and there is generally more than just one person being transported, so if two or three fares had to be met then Avgas is competitive.
If the patient is a child or a minor there's generally one of the parents along as well, or it might be Gran and the grandsons from a remote area visiting the Mom in ICU after major surgery.
A great cause that deserves all the support it can get.
G'Day 'Allah',
Try this address
Angel Flight
Works for me
and to 'GB',
Yes, I too do the occasional Angel Flight - and it is VERY much appreciated by the 'client' - as usually it removes a long tedious, and often painful, bus trip, and makes it a quick, fun, much more comfortable trip for someone who simply cannot tolerate the pain of a looong trip.
e.g. One of my 'favourite' people - a two hour flight vs a 7 to 8 hour bus trip on winding roads.
You figure it out........
Cheers
Try this address
Angel Flight
Works for me
and to 'GB',
Yes, I too do the occasional Angel Flight - and it is VERY much appreciated by the 'client' - as usually it removes a long tedious, and often painful, bus trip, and makes it a quick, fun, much more comfortable trip for someone who simply cannot tolerate the pain of a looong trip.
e.g. One of my 'favourite' people - a two hour flight vs a 7 to 8 hour bus trip on winding roads.
You figure it out........
Cheers
Last edited by Ex FSO GRIFFO; 23rd Jul 2010 at 06:48.
Get off the grass.
I also have reservations about the "Angel Flight" concept!
Dr
My main problem is with negative open ended questions. Its the " Have you stopped beating your wife yet? " syndrome.
If Gaius Baltar had a genuine interest in understanding the issues he raised, most of his questions would be answered by 20 minutes of research on the Angel Flight website & / or google. If GB had done a modicum of research and asked a genuine question, then I'd respect that and give it a reasoned response.
Gaius Baltar's questions smack of a fishing expedition with a hidden agenda.
I've done a handful of Angel Flights. I had a particular trigger to start which was a long way from free fuel. My opinion of both the Angel Flight organisation and the benefit that the flights provide has increased dramatically since I started doing them. I'm similarly impressed with the Earth Angels who do the running around on the ground. I'm guessing I may have shared some of FTDK's reservations before I started (I agree with most of his posts), but that started to change as I went through the registration process and dramatically changed after my first flight.
My next Angel Flight is in a couple of weeks. I'm expecting to fly to the pick-up destination the night before and stay overnight at my expense to be ready. And I miss a day of billable time. To suggest that I'm doing this for free fuel is just plain insulting. None of the guys I know who fly for Angel Flight do it for cheap flying.
My personal observation (based on observation rather than research) is that there is a significant difference in the nature of Angel Flights between states, which reflects the differing health policies of each state. I think the Victorian Government has now publicly conceded that it does not plan to provide the same level of healthcare in regional areas. At least in Victoria, most chronic diseases require treatment at hospitals in inner city areas of Melbourne. But Victoria has a very limited intra-state air service (or rail for that matter). Thus Angel Flight fills a void. I won't colour this post with tales of some of the people I've flown, but I despair at how some of them would deal with their schedule of medical visits without the opportunity to turn a 3 day trip driving into a 1 day trip flying. And sitting in a car for a day after treatments like chemotherapy would be a difficult experience, let alone being a mother on your own driving your 4 year old daughter back after chemo.
For whatever reason, we have a society that relies on non-government funded charities to fill the gaps in healthcare. This is why the chronic disease charities exist - Asthma, Diabetes, COPD, SIDS, the various cancer charities, the list goes on and on. In a perfect world there would be no need for any of them or Angel Flight. But that's not the world we live in.
Unfortunately, there are a number of charities that exist primarily for their own purpose. I'm working through the most recent senate committee on this topic as a part of a benchmarking exercise. A key indicator is the ratio of internal admin expense to funds raised. Some organisations top out at 80%, best practice is under 15%. Angel Flight discloses its as being 15%. But, I think you can tell the committed organisations from the attitude of the staff, and the staff at Angel Flight impress me. Its a public company (not Pty Ltd) so its required to be audited and there is a reasonable amount of separate government (ATO) scrutiny on charities with tax deductibility status for donations. So I'm happy enough with its bona-fides.
In my opinion everyone should play a role in some sort of community service, let alone those of us who can afford to fly. For my part, I intended my role on the board of a reasonably well known charity to be it. But happenstance got me started doing Angel Flights and I'm pleased to be doing it.
Happy to debate anything with people who have done some degree of knowledge or have done some homework and have an inquiring objective. Respect anyone who can do some research, form an opinion then step up and ask a question. Have no tolerance for lazy sniping questions that seem designed to leave a taint rather than solicit a genuine response.
If Gaius Baltar had a genuine interest in understanding the issues he raised, most of his questions would be answered by 20 minutes of research on the Angel Flight website & / or google. If GB had done a modicum of research and asked a genuine question, then I'd respect that and give it a reasoned response.
Gaius Baltar's questions smack of a fishing expedition with a hidden agenda.
I've done a handful of Angel Flights. I had a particular trigger to start which was a long way from free fuel. My opinion of both the Angel Flight organisation and the benefit that the flights provide has increased dramatically since I started doing them. I'm similarly impressed with the Earth Angels who do the running around on the ground. I'm guessing I may have shared some of FTDK's reservations before I started (I agree with most of his posts), but that started to change as I went through the registration process and dramatically changed after my first flight.
My next Angel Flight is in a couple of weeks. I'm expecting to fly to the pick-up destination the night before and stay overnight at my expense to be ready. And I miss a day of billable time. To suggest that I'm doing this for free fuel is just plain insulting. None of the guys I know who fly for Angel Flight do it for cheap flying.
My personal observation (based on observation rather than research) is that there is a significant difference in the nature of Angel Flights between states, which reflects the differing health policies of each state. I think the Victorian Government has now publicly conceded that it does not plan to provide the same level of healthcare in regional areas. At least in Victoria, most chronic diseases require treatment at hospitals in inner city areas of Melbourne. But Victoria has a very limited intra-state air service (or rail for that matter). Thus Angel Flight fills a void. I won't colour this post with tales of some of the people I've flown, but I despair at how some of them would deal with their schedule of medical visits without the opportunity to turn a 3 day trip driving into a 1 day trip flying. And sitting in a car for a day after treatments like chemotherapy would be a difficult experience, let alone being a mother on your own driving your 4 year old daughter back after chemo.
For whatever reason, we have a society that relies on non-government funded charities to fill the gaps in healthcare. This is why the chronic disease charities exist - Asthma, Diabetes, COPD, SIDS, the various cancer charities, the list goes on and on. In a perfect world there would be no need for any of them or Angel Flight. But that's not the world we live in.
Unfortunately, there are a number of charities that exist primarily for their own purpose. I'm working through the most recent senate committee on this topic as a part of a benchmarking exercise. A key indicator is the ratio of internal admin expense to funds raised. Some organisations top out at 80%, best practice is under 15%. Angel Flight discloses its as being 15%. But, I think you can tell the committed organisations from the attitude of the staff, and the staff at Angel Flight impress me. Its a public company (not Pty Ltd) so its required to be audited and there is a reasonable amount of separate government (ATO) scrutiny on charities with tax deductibility status for donations. So I'm happy enough with its bona-fides.
In my opinion everyone should play a role in some sort of community service, let alone those of us who can afford to fly. For my part, I intended my role on the board of a reasonably well known charity to be it. But happenstance got me started doing Angel Flights and I'm pleased to be doing it.
Happy to debate anything with people who have done some degree of knowledge or have done some homework and have an inquiring objective. Respect anyone who can do some research, form an opinion then step up and ask a question. Have no tolerance for lazy sniping questions that seem designed to leave a taint rather than solicit a genuine response.
The other thing that I find concerning is that potentially a 250hr private pilot is flying these people around.
