Summary of last 9 months

In order to be able to use this blog also as a diary of my flying activities, I would like to add here a short summary of the last 9 months. So hopefully one day the entire story will be contained in this blog.

1.8.2010 This day I was taking a "walk" and I entered the premises of the airfield located in Sinsheim. There I encountered a member of the Flugsporting Kraichgau e.V. , which is the flying club in Sinsheim. I had a short conversation with him. I told him about my flying passion and he told me that he knew of the existence of some Handicaped pilots in Germany. He also told me I should get in contact with the glider pilots association in Germany to find further information.

02.08.2010 After doing some research on the Internet I found the web page rolliflieger.de and trough that page I found the facebook page Handiflight. Both are related to the topic of flying with disabilities. 

10.08.2010 Trough these pages I was able to contact Harald Weber who is member of the German Handicapped Aviators association and an handicapped pilot himself. After a few initial conversations in which he provided valuable information he suggest that I should contact the flight surgeon Dr. Kaul.

15.08.2010 On this day I had an appointment with Benjamin Bauer who is in charge of gliders for the Flugsportring Kraichgau e.V. Sinsheim. He gave me a tour and showed me the facilities and the planes. We talked about how I could fly a glider and how I could independently get into one. Previously I had received a negative response from the board of the Flugsporting Kraichgau Club. Benjamin told me that he would discuss this mater later again as he was also a member of the board. He said that he believed any club should be opened to receive handicapped members.

15.08.2010 On this day I performed my first flight on an ASK-21 glider as a passenger. Benjamin Bauer was the pilot. The idea was to see if I could get into the glider and if I would not get air sick. In gliders you have to fly tight circles to keep the plane within thermals to gain altitude. Some people get air sick under these conditions. I was also able to get at the controls to get a feeling and to evaluate if this is something I could do. The experience was magnificent and I was now totally convinced that I had to put all my efforts into this endeavor.

16.08.2010 The flight surgeon Dr. Kaul whom I had called already one week earlier had done some research about osteogenesis impefecta. When I called him on this day, like we had agreed, he told me that he would not give me the "medical". He argued that I was too small to operate a glider and that the risk of an injury was too high. I told him that I did not agree and I proposed to have a discussion in person with him. He then told me that he would definitely not give me the "medical" and then ended quickly ended the conversation. I was of course very disappointed. This experience showed me that the current handicapped aviation scene was dominated by paraplegics and that I was even among handicapped “different”. I have a certain understanding for this attitude towards the unknown still it is many times difficult to accept.

Some days later I decided to continue to fight for my dream. I started writing letters to all sorts of flight surgeons and organizations related to aviation in Germany. In the letters I described my situation in the hope to find some help  to get the medical authorization.

06.09.2010 On this day I received an Email from the flight surgeon Andreas Adrian. He told me to contact Dr. Quast who is the head of the Aeromedical Center at the Stuttgart Airport. He told me that he was one of the highest authorities in medical aviation in Germany.

21.09.2010 On this day I finally had my first appointment with Dr. Quast in Stuttgart. The first conversation was very positive. Dr. Quast who is also a passionate pilot could immediately understand my passion towards aviation. He then made some basic tests in order to convince himself that I could operate an airplane. He then told me that before he performed a complete medical examination he would like to get a confirmation from a flight instructor that I would be able to operate a glider. He told me that if I get this ratification and that if I pass the medical exam that he would then give me the "medical"!

24.10.2010 On this day I had an appointment with a flight instructor at the hangar of the airfield in Quirnehim. Here they have an adapted ASK-21 glider. The flight instructor checked if I could operate the plane and if I was able to reach all controls and instruments. Fortunately I have pretty long arms although I am very small. This was very important because it gives me the possibility to also reach the handle to eject the canopy which is located farther away then the instrument panel.

After all the tests the flight instructor gave me the written confirmation demanded by Dr. Quast.

27.10.2010 On this day I had the medical examination at the Aeromedical Center in Stuttgart. After many tests Dr. Quast finally told me that he agreed to give me the medical class 2 for private flying in Europe! I was specially proud when he told me that my medical data was excellent for my age and considering my disability. :o) Still I got some restrictions. Because of my eyeglasses I have to always carry a second pair while flying and and I have to get my medical revalidated each year. This was probably done as a precautionary measure because of my disability. And of course I need to fly a plane that can be controlled without using my legs. This basically means that on a glider I have to operate the vertical rudder with my hands. Another necessary change is that the speed breaks can be locked on any given position so that I can use my left hand for rudder control without having to retract the air brakes.

This was a very important and special day for me! So many years I had been convinced my disability would never allow me to fly a plane. And now I had the medical authorization in my hands! :o) 

17.12.2010 Benjamin Bauer told me that I could join the theoretical training even if it was not sure that I would join the club. So on this day I had my first theoretical classes! Two hours navigation and one hour meteorology!

17.01.2011 In the meantime Benjamin Bauer had convinced the board members of the club in Sinsheim to have a meeting with me to discuss the possibility of having me as a club member so that I could get glider pilot license training. Luckily Harald Weber who is a very experienced handicapped (paraplegic) glider pilot was present in this meeting. We discussed what it meant for the club and what had to be done to make the training possible for me and for other future handicapped pilots. At the end the board unanimously voted in favor. Still they said that this was not a decision for them to take alone and that they would like to discuss it with all the other active pilots. 

04.04.2011 On this day the gathering of active pilots took place to discuss if they accepted me as a member and if they would provide me the training. This of course also means adapting one of the gliders. At night I got an email from Benjamin telling me "unanimously yes, you are on board"! :o)