SUBSEQUENT TRIP REQUEST: 14th & 15th Angel flights.

Fourty-five year old Leonie has a young family from Merimbula NSW, and has recently had a cochlear implant. She needs regular reviews by specialists in Sydney to fine tune the device as her hearing gradually increases. This Angel flight was for one of those trips.

Read about a previous mission for Leonie (M720)

Angel flight 1 by Garry Crowhurst
This is Garry's 3rd Angel flight
Previous mission for Garry - M700 AF1.

Garry Crowhurst - Pilot

Jane Braithwaite - Earth Angel
(Jane's 16th Angel flight)

Garry Crowhurst - Pilot

Angel flight 2 by Garry Crowhurst
This is Garry's 4th Angel flight
Previous mission for Garry - M700 AF1.

Comment by Garry
" Mission 745 was the most satisfying Angel Flight I have undertaken. Leonie and Karen were so incredibly appreciative of everything we did for them on the day. Schedules were spot-on, it was a perfect flying day and to see the constant smile on the face of a person not privelidged with the health most of us enjoy daily, was inspirational. The carers and Ground Angels are always there, as willing as ever to assist in bringing everything together on the ground.

Can I suggest to pilots, whether aircraft owners or not, who are contemplating joining the ranks of Angel Flight, JUST DO IT!! You will meet some wonderful country poeple, young and old who, in the the face of incredible adversity, recouperation, or in failing health, will inspire you beyond your wildest dreams. The energy they transmit to you when they hug you or shake your hand in gratitude is 10 fold the power of your VHF!! PLUS, with 50% of your fuel paid by Angel Flight and a 6 cpl discount on the remainder of all fuel used on a mission AND the waiver of ALL Air Nav charges in both directions, you will never fly to all these beautiful Australian country towns any cheaper!! Think about it!!

Thanks again to the organisers, planners and schedulers at Angel Flight for your great work and a Merry Christmas and Happy and Healthy '06 to you all. Regards, Garry Crowhurst 1447 (Baron OMZ)"

Thankyou letter from Leonie

Is it truly possible that fate favoured us today and the weather and the traffic allowed us to make a trip up and back to Sydney in the one day? YES!!!!

Karen, my good friend and I got to the Merimbula airport at 8.30 and awaited the arrival of Garry Crowhurst, our pilot. He arrived just after 9.00am in his Beechcraft Baron 58, a sleek 6 seater, twin engine craft. His co-pilot was Robert.

David was with us and we all greeted each other and made introductions and took photo's.

We flew out of Merimbula about 15 minutes behind schedule but that didn't seem to matter as after a smooth and very comfortable cruise over the mountains we landed at Bankstown on time, at 10.30am.

Jane Braithwaite, our Earth Angel, was there to meet us so we headed off to the Cochlear Implant Centre. Jane took us across the Anzac Bridge and through the east west tunnel, ( longest tunnel I've ever been in ) and after numerous traffic slow spots and having to drive past a recent accident, a black sedan wedged up against the centre concrete barrier with a truck firming embedded into it's side, yuk, we arrived, sadly late by 25 minutes for my appointment. You can't help the traffic!!

Rachel was great as we managed to fit most things into my shortened visit. I continued to improve, passing most of my tests with 100% or maybe just a bit less. I progressed to another test which I found easy and got 100%.

I could hear and understand Garry's voice easily but couldn't understand Robert at all. I could understand Jane and Brian, when they looked at me and spoke while in the car, which is definately an improvement as holding a conversation in a moving vehicle has been all but impossible in the past. So there are improvements, there's no doubt there.
Rachel would have liked to put me in the sound box to see the difference with my old hearing aids but we ran out of time.

My driver, Brian had arrived and graciously carried our bags and took us on a scenic tour back to Bankstown Airport. We arrived with time to spare, which was good as we still hadn't found time to have our lunch and my stomach was starting to rumble.

After we found Garry and Robert comfortably sitting in the shade of the hanger where the plane now sat, Garry was kind enough to let us have the two seats and have our lunch, while watching the small planes come and go.

Nature called and Robert was kind enought to drive us to the public toilets and back, while Garry got the plane out of the hanger and ready to depart.

Take off was at 2.30pm and the weather was still fine and clear.
We travelled home via the coast, it was lovely.
Karen and I took off our shoes and wriggled our toes in the plush carpet and layed back in the compfy leather seats. As Garry said when we landed, "It's the only way to travel" and I seriously had to agree.

We landed in Merimbula 30 minutes earlier than expected after cruising at a ground speed of 220 miles per hour.

So there you go, we did the trip in the day and enjoyed the experience.

Thankyou, Angel Flight and Garry, Robert, Jane and Brian.