Pilot raises funds across South, Central America
Jaunt to southern tip of continent raised more than $500,000 for medical charity
One continent. Nineteen countries. One hundred and sixty flight hours covering 32,000 kilometres. “The flight of 1,000 lifetimes.” Windsor pilot Russ Airey is back home after flying around Central and South America over the last two months to raise money for Hope Air and provide free travel for Canadians to access medical care. “I hated to come back,” Airey joked Tuesday. “We were just treated like celebrities.”
The first time the three pilots in two homebuilt planes landed in Chile, people started asking them if they had come for the air show. The Canadian pilots knew nothing about it but soon were flying in the show in Villarrica in southern Chile, sitting at the head table and receiving an award for coming the longest distance to the show. Organizers had a large Canadian flag made for their arrival and the pilots were convinced to stay a few days. Thanks to the tight-knit flying community and WhatsApp Messenger, word spread about the fundraising flight and the Canadian pilots were welcomed at airports along the way. Airey said one of the best parts of the trip was the South American people they met. The Give Hope Wings trip across Central and South America took on eight volunteer flight crew members along the way to help raise money for Hope Air. The charity provides free travel for Canadians to get to needed medical appointments or treatments by buying tickets on commercial flights, getting flights donated or using volunteer pilots.
The goal was $500,000 and the adventure exceeded that by about $6,000. The pilots are planning to continue to use the trip to raise money and awareness. Hope Air arranged for 12,684 flights last year which was a record for the charity and a 10 per cent increase, Airey said. The more than $500,000 raised will cover that increase.
About 24 per cent of the flights are for cancer patients and 37 per cent are for children, he said. Without the charity, about 30 per cent of the people say they wouldn’t be able to get to their appointments or treatments.
“We loved the flight. It was an incredible thing to do but, in the end, I think we’re going to all remember this as something we did to help others, to help Canadians.” Airey flew his experimental plane, a Vans RV9A two-seater, that he built himself. He left Dec. 27 and arrived back in Windsor Sunday. The other plane is expected to arrive Wednesday in Kelowna, B.C.
Airey said flying over the Amazon River in Brazil was fantastic. The pilots flew mostly along the coast at low altitudes and along the way got rare aerial views of mountains, deserts and volcanoes. He saw one of the largest waterfalls in the world in Brazil, and flew to the bottom of South America at the most southern airport in the world.
“It was incredible scenery everywhere we went.”