MiracleAir Crew Returns to Wings of Hope to Pick Up Mission Aircraft

By Carmelo Turdo

Wings of Hope hosted a crew from Canada-based MiracleAir June 16-17 at their world headquarters in St. Louis. MiracleAir pilots Keith LaRoy and Andrew Hosford were in town to receive their aircraft, a Found Aircraft Bush Hawk, that will soon be deployed to the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. Also visiting Wings of Hope was Jennifer LaRoy, who will play an important role in managing the transition and daily operations in their new mission field. 

MiracleAir plans to provide emergency medical flights, health and wellness clinics and disaster relief services along with ministry to communities along the waterways. The need for immediate humanitarian assistance is very acute, so establishing a base of operations with the float-equipped Bush Hawk is a high priority. 

Purposely designed as a bush plane by Found Aircraft Canada, the Bush Hawk provides excellent utility service in remote locations. The Bush Hawk seats five passengers, or with the rear seat removed, provides room for a stretcher or a large cargo capacity. There are no external wing struts, and oversized cargo doors allow easy loading to a flat cabin floor. The Bush Hawk is fitted with amphibious floats for water and land operations, and it can be converted back to conventional landing gear if desired. This aircraft is equipped with a Lycoming O-540 300hp engine and has only about 650 hours on the airframe.

The Aero Experience visited with the LaRoys and Andrew Hosford as they met with Wings of Hope staff and maintenance technicians on Wednesday evening as the aircraft was given a final check before test flights and departure the following day. We were given a close look at the Bush Hawk, featured below and in the video at the end of this story.

On Thursday, June 17, the Bush Hawk emerged from the Wings of Hope hangar, ready for two morning test flights. Below, we feature the rollout and one of the test flights performed by Keith LaRoy.  

After the successful test flights, well-wishers gathered for the traditional blessing of the plane and crew by Pastor Larry Lemke of Zion Lutheran Church of Ferguson. Then it was time to load up the plane, top off the fuel tanks, and push out for the 2:30 P.M. taxi time. The MiracleAir crew will make stops to meet supporters in Tennessee, Michigan, and Montana before repositioning the aircraft in Canada over the summer.

The Aero Experience produced the video, featured below, encapsulating the two-day visit to Wings of Hope. We thank Keith and Jennifer LaRoy, Andrew Hosford and the entire Wings of Hope staff and volunteers for making the MiracleAir Bush Hawk ready for service in Nicaragua later this year.