Picture this on a sunny, windy, unseasonably cold Florida morning: a young boy is racing his power wheelchair down the taxi-way of a small west central Florida airport. He’s giggling as he comes to a screeching halt amid a group of adults, also in wheelchairs. Everyone stops their conversations and looks up to see his mom running after him yelling, “You need to put your jacket on; it’s too cold out here to be running around without it!”
He is a typical 9-year-old who wants to fly, and he got his chance that cold day in February. He and all the others gathered in their wheelchairs had come to Zephyrhills Municipal Airport for a chance to experience flying in two modified aircraft – a Grob G-103 Acro glider, and a Trike (an ultra light aircraft) offered by Freedom’s Wings International. There was supposed to be a third plane, a modified single engine Cessna. Unfortunately, it didn’t make it down from New England; it was grounded there because of a terrible snow and ice storm that had blanketed the northeast during the week.
Freedom’s Wings International, Inc. (FWI) is a non-profit, New Jersey based organization run by and for people with physical disabilities. Freedom’s Wings provides the opportunity for the physically challenged to fly in specially adapted sailplanes, either as a passenger or as a member of the flight training program.
The purpose of Freedom's Wings International is to bring the world of soaring to disabled persons by: • Exposing persons with disabilities to the soaring experience• Teaching qualified persons with disabilities to soar• Providing facilities for soaring to those persons with disabilities able to soar• Providing training for instructors, ground crew, and flying students• Providing a non-profit educational and fraternal organization• Serving as a resource and model for other organizations with similar intent.
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