Mano a Mano’s New Plane – First Flight
On July 13, 2018, Mano a Mano staff, board members, and supporters went to Fleming Field in South St. Paul, Minnesota for the first flight in our new plane.
Mano a Mano Pilots Flying to Minnesota in August
Our pilots are traveling to Orlando, Florida for their pilot training for this new, larger plane this month. They are scheduled to arrive in Minnesota on August 11, 2018. The plane will then fly to Tampa, Florida to have an extra fuel tank installed to minimize the number of landings. With the additional tank, the Caravan will be able to reach the Guayanas (the most northern part of the South American continent). From the Guayanas, the flight plan will guide the Caravan all the way to Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Mano a Mano’s new addition to our aviation program, at Fleming Field in South St. Paul, Minnesota, preparing for a test flight on July 13, 2018.
How this New Plane Helps
The note below is from our aviation program, describing how this new plane helps:
This is an important day for us. A day when we see and test fly a Cessna Caravan which will give Mano a Mano the additional capacity that is needed to transport the sick and the injured. Now we can easily fit a gurney with a patient and a doctor or nurse or an EMT who can help care for the patient. Even a family member can come along in this airplane.
This airplane will carry three times the capacity of our smaller Cessna, fly faster, longer, operate as reliably as an airliner and not cost much more to operate than our Navajo. A wonderful addition. We are excited and grateful to our staff, our donors and friends who made this dream become a reality for so many of us here and in Bolivia.
People in isolated regions of Bolivia will say “we are people with few resources, when we are injured or sick, we just wait for the ultimate….unless, out of the blue Mano a Mano comes to fly us to seek health care in the cities.”
Thanks to your gift, we will!
Goals of the Mano a Mano Aviation Program
The Mano a Mano – Apoyo Aereo (Air Support) aviation program makes it possible for Mano a Mano to partner with and provide urgently needed services to isolated rural communities whose distance from the city would otherwise prohibit their inclusion in Mano a Mano’s projects.
Mano a Mano uses aviation for four purposes:
- To safely transport Mano a Mano staff and volunteers to remote communities in order to: determine whether a community’s request to partner with Mano a Mano will be accepted; meet with community leaders and local government officials to develop partnership agreements and project plans; select building sites; supervise construction; deliver medical supplies; provide health care, health education and supervision;
- To airlift critically ill and injured patients to city hospitals for emergency care;
- To make flight hours available to other non-profit organizations whose missions are consistent with that of Mano a Mano;
- To generate revenue by making flight hours available at a commercial rate to businesses and the general public.
I’m a pilot from Alaska with around 5500hrs of experience operating in the bush (7000+ total), my wife is a nurse. How can we help?
I can speak enough Spanish to get by as a tourist comfortably, but learn languages quickly, my wife doesn’t speak much, but wants to learn.
We’re on vacation in Spain presently, but are looking for volunteer opportunities for the future where we could help make the world a bit better than it is.
Thanks!