I believe this is a first as I don't recall ever asking this before, but one of our pilots is going through a tough time and can use some help. He would never ask on his own, so I'll do it for him.
I'm sure all of you know <name of person>. <First name>, born without hands or feet, has logged several thousand hours and has earned numerous ratings, including the two that Able Flight supported through our career scholarships.
For years he has been supporting his family with flying, and it was his hope (and ours) that with his new King Air type rating that he could move up to a better paying job. But that hasn't happened yet, and recently, the job he had flying a Cessna P210 went away.
<First name> had moved his wife, two daughters and his mother to Idaho to take that job. And over the past months since earning the type rating,
he has submitted over 100 job applications. Some of those applications have resulted in interviews, and even though he is a CFI with around 500 multi hours, has an ATP and a King Air 300 series Type Rating, and just got his 1st class medical, so far he hasn't landed a job. Randy does need 200 turbine time for many of those jobs and only has around 20, and yes, it's possible that even though prospective employers like his resume enough to invite him for an interview, they back away when they discover his "disability".
So, here's my request:
If any of you have a lead on a second seat job flying any kind of turbine/turboprop aircraft, please let me know and I'll pass it along. I'm working my connections as well.
Thanks for considering this.
Charles
Charles H. Stites
Executive Director
919-942-4699
www.ableflight.org
