Jim Kirkham flying for Angel Flight Central and Making Lake of the Ozarks Home

Profile | September 27, 2010

Jim Kirkham flies for Angel Flight Central, Inc. (AFC), one of seven organizations involved in Air Charity Network. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, AFC matches those faced with the need for specialized care at facilities or destinations far away from their homes to those with the resources and abilities to transport them. Since its inception in 1995, AFC— a nonprofit organization funded entirely through charitable donations from individuals, foundations, corporations and other interested groups has flown more than seven million miles and served approximately 12,000 passengers. In 2009, AFC received more than 2,600 requests for assistance in the states of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

In addition to healthcare treatment, AFC has, for example, flown a child with a heart transplant to summer camp for children with heart disease, flown victims of accidents far from home back to their families, and flown a soldier’s wife to join him at his bedside. More typically, flights are not for medical emergencies but for necessary medical procedures and treatments that cannot be provided to patients locally and without which their lives would be in jeopardy.

Five working days are generally needed to coordinate flights. Patients are screened for need and doctors must provide medical releases. Patients must be able to walk across the tarmac and climb aboard the planes. Luggage is limited to 50 pounds. All pilots are volunteers who use their own four-to-six-seat aircraft. Typical fuel cost is $800-$1,000 per flight and is paid by the pilot. Throughout the Midwest, more than 300 additional volunteers aid in the screening process, coordinating flights and providing administrative support.

Most Angel Flight pilots are not retired professional pilots like Jim. Rather, they come from all walks of life but share a love of flying and an ability to contribute time and the expenses attendant to the service they are providing. Before retiring from his professional career, Jim flew many different aircraft, both domestically and internationally. Eventually he flew the B747-400 from Chicago to Hong Kong and on to Singapore before returning home. His first act upon retiring was to become a certified helicopter pilot.

Jim was drawn to the Lake of the Ozarks because of its location. His daughter resides in Wichita, Kansas, and his son lives in Danville, Illinois. Jim looked at a map to determine the midpoint, deviated slightly toward that lovely blue dragon, and found himself a new home. Jim has always owned aircraft. He purchased his 1965 Beech craft Travel Air six months ago. Although the plane is 45 years old, Jim explained that careful inspection and maintenance, which are mandatory, keep the plane as safe and efficient as when it was new. All airplane engines have time limits after which they must be brought back to new engine specifications. For his Beech craft Travel Air that is 2,000 hours of flight time. Jim keeps his plane at the Camdenton airport, where it is carefully inspected and maintained by certified mechanics. Due to the rough terrain over which he flies, Jim prefers the twin engines of the Travel Air. He has twice experienced engine failure in a single-engine aircraft that required swift landing on a relatively smooth surface. A twin-engine plane can be flown with just one engine in an emergency situation, so with many of his flights between Missouri and Texas, twin engines are safer.

Jim flies an average of one to two times per month. Like all AFC patients, the folks Jim flies are first screened by the organization and then placed on a master list. Jim reviews that list, which includes the distance that must be traveled and the weight to be transported. He then contacts AFC Central and offers his services for a specific date and destination. If any trip requires more than 300 nautical miles, a relay team of aircraft and pilots must be set up. When Jim flies the first leg of the relay, he contacts the patient to confirm the time of departure and also the pilots flying the second and sometimes third leg of the journey to carefully coordinate the meeting times. Many of the folks Jim flies have never flown in a small plane.

Jim’s Travel Air uses approximately 18 gallons of fuel per hour at a cruising speed of about 200 mph. A full tank allows Jim about 51⁄2 hours of flight time. The plane does not have ice protection, so extreme caution must be exercised during inclement weather. When the ground temperature is high, Jim usually flies at 9,000-10,000 feet. With the sun shining in the windows the cabin temperature is around 60 degrees, creating a perfect flying experience.

It’s hard to talk to Jim without catching the bug—so just what does it take to learn to fly? To become a licensed pilot, one must have 40 hours of in-the-air flight training along with coursework and exams. Jim recommends taking flight lessons in rapid succession, three times per week, rather than spacing them apart, so that there is no need to review prior to classes. Of course, to fly as a commercial pilot much additional training is required.

A grandfather himself, Jim prefers transporting children. On his most recent flight he picked up a 5-year-old boy and his adoptive mother in Nashville, Tennessee, for a flight to St. Louis where the youngster was scheduled for a lung transplant. Undoubtedly the child benefited immeasurably from Jim’s assistance, yet Jim says he gets far more from participating in Angel Flight than he gives.

For more information about receiving assistance from or offering assistance to Angel Flight Central please contact them toll-free at 888-569-9464 or www.angelflightcentral.org. Their major fund-raising event of the year, Wine Flight, will take place on November 19, 2010, at the Kansas City Starlight Theatre. The event features wines from around the country, a gourmet buffet, a live and silent auction and live entertainment.