Wings of Hope Hosts Intern Program, Prepares to Send Team to Tanzania

By Carmelo Turdo

Wings of Hope continues to change and save lives through the power of aviation in St. Louis and around the world. For sixty years, Wings of Hope has been providing or supporting global humanitarian aviation services to communities in Africa, the Asia Pacific region and South America. For the last 21 of those years, the Medical Relief and Air Transport Program (MAT) has been providing air transportation for patients and their families to medical facilities around the Midwest. Wings of Hope also looks to the future of humanitarian aviation with the more recent introduction of SOAR Into STEM, a five-weekend course held twice each year that introduces the concepts of aeronautics to high school students and provides hands-on experiences including a flight in a general aviation aircraft. These and other programs directly contribute to achieving the mission of Wings of Hope now and well into the future.

The first session of the Soar & Explore Summer Internship for high school and vocational students began today. The students will meet at Wings of Hope for two half-days per week, for four weeks, and receive practical insights into the aviation industry through airport tours, aircraft maintenance reviews, familiarization of aircraft instruments and communication methods, glider build and fly activity and a Discovery Flight. Here we feature the interns with Tiffany Nelson, Wings of Hope Director of Programs and Evaluation, and former MAT pilot and Wings of Hope volunteer Jay Rickmeyer assisting with the first airplane build activity.

Also today it was announced that a team from Wings of Hope will be sent to Arusha, Tanzania next week to perform the annual inspection on a Cessna 206 that serves with partner organization Flying Medical Service. Wings of Hope has supported Flying Medical Service with aircraft, parts and annual inspections for over twenty years, and this aircraft will continue to provide flying medical clinics to twenty-five Maasai settlements. The A&P technicians going on this mission are Edward Schertz, whom we have featured several times in recent years, and Bailey George, a pilot and A&P technician from Service Oriented Aviation Readiness (SOAR) located in Boliver, MO. SOAR specializes in training aviation professionals for the mission field, and this is Bailey George's first international assignment. Schertz served as a pilot and A&P technician for Wings of Hope in Peru and Paraguay from 1972-1980 before returning to St. Louis as Director of Maintenance from 1981-2005. He is an ideal mentor for Bailey George and all who work on aircraft deployed in the countries supported by Wings of Hope. 

In the coming weeks, The Aero Experience will provide additional coverage of the Soar & Explore Summer Internship class as they receive their Discovery Flights and a review of the aircraft inspection trip to Tanzania.