Is Flight Possible For Me?
I became interested in the possibilities of being able to fly about 12 years ago when my father purchased a plane. I started wondering is it something I can do, or has it ever been done? So, I went to the all-knowing Google and found out it really could be my reality. I will talk about that more on Friday but in the meantime, I want to introduce you to some other people that made the gift of flight a part of their everyday lives.
Jessica Cox – Pilot Without Arms
Jessica Cox was born with a rare birth defect that left her without arms. She has the same philosophy I do in that she was born with a certain challenge and she learned to adapt. Thinking back on her days as a child in school she remembers not being able to go on the swings or monkey bars. This caused her to imagine herself being like superwoman flying over the playground. Surprisingly she grew up afraid of flying but one day decided to conquer her fear and her limitation at the same time. She met a fighter pilot who was an instructor with the charity Wright Flight . After a bit of prodding to get her to try it she finally relented and took a lesson. She was hooked from the start.
I know that feeling all too well. It is an amazing feeling to leave the earth behind and feel that freedom.
Jessica took all her lessons in a plane called Ercoupe. The advantage of using this type of plane was that she didn’t have to use both feet and hands. The Ercoupe doesn’t have rudder controls which are normally manipulated with feet. Instead, the rudder control is incorporated into the normal steering controls. She was able to use only her feet. There is a lot more to her story so you should go read the rest here.
Charlotte George Smith – First Paraplegic Female Pilot
Charlotte started out life like any able-bodied child until the age of 10 when she contracted polio. She ended up needing to use a wheelchair. Growing up in a time before the 60’s when the thought of people with disabilities achieving anything was not very common, she destroyed those barriers becoming a research scientist at NASA for 26 years, traveling around the world in 30 days, took part in pioneering the Americans with Disabilities Act, and oh to top it off is the first female paraplegic to earn her pilots license. She has an amazing story that you should check out at her website here!
Dave Sykes- Paraplegic Microlight Pilot
In 1993 Dave Sykes broke his back in a motorcycle accident After an extensive recovery he took up microlight flying. Microlights are essentially a hang glider with a frame and motor underneath allowing it to be flown similar to an airplane. It is controlled in the air the same way a hang glider pilot would control their glider. They push up to go up, pull back to go down and pull or push to the side to turn. He started learning to fly microlights in 2000 and earned his license in 2001. He has since gone on to set a few records for microlight flying including making a 16000-mile trip from England to Australia. In 2015 he decided he wanted to fly 5000 miles to the North Pole while enduring temperatures of -40 F. You can check out more about this adventure here!
Steve Cunningham – Blind Pilot
Yes, you read that right, Steve Cunningham is a pilot who is blind. He lost his vision at the age of 12 and instead of taking an offer to sell matches on a corner, he chose to become known as the fastest blind man on earth. Along the way he decided he wanted to fly. No, he doesn’t fly alone he has a co-pilot who as he puts it is just there to make sure he doesn’t hit any other aircraft and to make sure the information he is being fed from his plane through a voice system is correct. Other than that, though the flight is all in his control. In 2004 he went on a 5-day journey to become the first blind person to fly around Britain. Check out his website to find out why he is called the fastest blind man on earth!
Closing Thoughts
After reading about these amazing people who chose not to let life get in the way but instead work toward big dreams, I hope you maybe gain a new perspective on what’s possible. As Charlotte George Smith puts it “Some fine day, you may decide your physical problems are no longer limiting your life. So I can’t walk. So I ride instead. So what?”
In Friday’s upcoming post I will be sharing stories of my foray into aviation so make sure to be looking for that!
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