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You are here: Home / Archives for Pilots

Pilots

ERAU Chancellor Ranks Among ‘Most Influential Women in Arizona’

August 3, 2021 By quadcities Leave a Comment

Anette Karlsson begins third year leading the aeronautical university.

Anette Karlsson arrived in Prescott on Aug. 1, 2019, as chancellor of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) Prescott campus. She pledged a university education that was personal, student-focused and totally immersive. She also emphasized the continuation of rigorous learning experiences that had positive educational and economic impacts on Arizona and the nation.

Though barely known in Arizona when she arrived, a year later, she was named one of 2020’s “Most Influential Women in Arizona.”

However, because of the COVID-19 shutdown of public events, the celebration was delayed until this month in Phoenix.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the prestigious event organized by AZ Business and AZRE magazines, both of which focus on high-level corporate, business and educational executives and owners. “Being named is a testament to the number of brilliant, talented women leaders in Arizona. The program is one of the most elite and competitive in the state, ” said AZ Big Media Editor in Chief Michael Gossie. More than 2,000 women were considered.

Karlsson, a native of Sweden, has achieved international prominence as an engineering and aviation expert, as well as a higher education administrator. Karlsson had a successful academic and work career in Sweden. She completed degrees in engineering – a bachelor’s in 1985 and a master’s in 1990 – at Linkoping University. During that same period, she worked for SAAB Corporation in the aerospace division.

She moved to the United States, where she served as a scientific attaché in the Swedish Embassy. Karlsson soon enrolled at Rutgers University, where she earned her doctorate in mechanical and aerospace engineering in 1999. She completed post-doctoral research experience at Princeton University. She later joined the University of Delaware faculty from 2008 to 2012, and became chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. In 2012, she moved to Cleveland State University as a professor and dean in the Washkewicz College of Engineering.

Karlsson accepted the administrative position at ERAU, succeeding Dr. Frank Ayers, who retired at ERAU-Prescott and moved to the ERAU-Daytona Beach, Florida, campus.

“She brought stellar academic credentials, superb executive experience, a passion for both engineering and aviation, and a team-oriented approach to the chancellorship,” said ERAU President Dr. P. Barry Butler.

As leader of what is rated the No. 1 aviation and aerospace university in the nation, Karlsson said, “Enrollment is expected to exceed 3,000 this fall, with students coming from all 50 states and from more than 40 foreign nations. The increase, though modest, is an exception to what is happening in the rest of the country. This speaks well of our dedicated faculty and staff, who consider students the reason why we have a university.”

The worldwide campus, including the other residential campus in Florida, brings the total enrollment to 31,000 for ERAU.

MAJOR CHALLENGE

“Soon after I moved here, the pandemic began. We had to think about moving ahead with educational programs while at the same time keeping everyone safe during all these months. That derailed some of my plans.”

FASTEST GROWING PROGRAMS

“Actually, aviation – graduating pilots. The aviation industry is coming back strong. Also, the airline industry is suffering from a shortage of pilots because so many are retiring. Cybersecurity is also increasing in enrollment.”

SOURCE OF PRIDE 

“The Golden Eagles flight team this past late May won its 13th national flight championship, competing against 28 major universities in the U.S. We’re really proud of those top-notch students.”

NEXT MAJOR PROJECT

“We’re in the design phases of a new student union center. We desperately need it. That’s part of my long-term goal – to refresh the campus. Then, we’ll look at new classrooms and office buildings.”

FAVORITE ACTIVITY

“I really do enjoy rising early and getting out and jogging and exercising. But it seems lately, I’ve had to cut back on that because of so many other obligations. I get out on weekends.” QCBN

By Ray Newton, QCBN

Filed Under: Community Profile, Local News Tagged With: Anette Karlsson, Barry Butler, community profile, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, ERAU chancellor, ERAU Prescott campus, Pilots

Destination: Forever Home

April 2, 2021 By quadcities Leave a Comment

Volunteer pilots transporting rescue dogs to a better life

A puppy had been badly burned and needed immediate medical care, according to the urgent online post.

It was Saturday morning, March 6. Recently-retired American Airlines Boeing 787 Captain David Weeks was at home in Flagstaff, enjoying the sound of the breeze through the pines on this unusually warm winter day when he read the message on the Pilots N’ Paws discussion board. The pup, six or seven months old, had been stabilized at a small remote clinic, but required an emergency flight to Scottsdale for extensive long-term treatment.

“I can take off by 12 and be in Shiprock by 1,” he figured.

And with that, he and his Cirrus SR22T four-seater were headed toward the solitary northwestern New Mexico airstrip that has become a familiar landing site. “They don’t have a control tower; you just look both ways and go.”

Weeks, a seasoned pilot based out of Phoenix for much of his career, is used to flying commercial passengers to international airports in Europe, Asia and South America. These days, he is thrilled to be piloting a small plane again.

“I missed it,” he explained. “I came up through general aviation, was a flight instructor, flew air taxi, worked for an air ambulance in the ‘80s and was a demonstration pilot for Gates Learjet.”

Weeks is part of a network of volunteer pilots, connected online through Pilots N Paws, a non-profit organization that coordinates transport requests for animals in need. He retired in October after flying for 34 years. “I knew retirement was coming up and we [David and his wife, Nancy] talked about buying a light aircraft. We wanted to do volunteer flying and already knew about the organization.”

Much different from flying into New York’s JFK International Airport “for the 500th time” or “being number 27 for takeoff at Dallas/Fort Worth during rush hour on a Friday afternoon,” Weeks says it’s a nice change to go to smaller airports in the Four Corners region near places like Rifle, Colorado, Park City, Utah, or Wickenburg.

“David has to research ahead of time to find what canyons to fly through without going up over the tops of mountains,” said Nancy, who often joins him on these flights to Shiprock to pick up the precious cargo and then take off to locations across the Southwest where animal shelter volunteers are waiting for the delivery. “Their lungs may not be developed,” she explains about the rescue puppies they transport. “We don’t want to take them to a high altitude over 10,000 feet because the plane is not pressurized. We’ve got to protect those little lungs and little ears.”

Puppies and pregnant mama dogs are frequent clientele, as well as dogs between 1 and 2 years old. Affectionately known as Rez Dogs, most are descendants of working dogs from sheep camps. “We get a lot of herding dogs – great Pyrenees, huskies shepherds, heelers – you’re never going to get a purebred,” said Hannah Browning, who volunteers for Turquoise Paw Rescue, an animal rescue operation and transfer hub that serves the Navajo Nation. “If someone adopts one and does a DNA test to see what kind of dog it is, it’s a mix of five to 50 different breeds. You never know what you’re going to get.”

Yvonne Todacheene and her husband, Izzy A., have been rescuing reservation animals and operating Turquoise Paw for more than a decade. “We started in 2006 with just a few animals but at the time there was nowhere to really take them,” she said. “I didn’t start keeping records of the animals we rescued until 2014. The records from 2014 to 2019 show that we rescued close to 10,000 animals during that time period. In 2020, we decided it was time to file for 501c(3) status since Hannah came on board and was able to help with the arduous task of moving the animals out.”

Last year, Turquoise Paw rescued, fostered or transported 3,048 animals to new lives off the reservation. So far this year, the operation has processed about 1,150 animals.

Todacheene and Browning may drive hundreds of miles a week rescuing animals – mostly canines. They commonly pick up boxes of puppies or kittens left on the side of a highway or at a gas station. Sometimes they get a call that a dog has been hit by a car and is alone and injured on the side of a road, or a female has given birth to a litter in a hole she dug by a dumpster. Sometimes their condition is grave or advanced, like an extreme infestation of botflies. With limited resources, difficult decisions need to be made.

“These dogs kind of live in packs. They are very dog friendly. A lot of times, they’ve never been touched by people, never been in a vehicle, never been indoors or fed from a dish,” said Browning. Despite this, she says, most of them make loving pets.

The problem of homeless dogs is as massive and layered as the ancient rock monuments that dot the reservation. Browning says there are only two or three veterinarians who serve the entire Navajo Nation, and with the high poverty rate, most families can’t afford medical expenses for their pets. “It’s unrealistic for them to pay for veterinary costs. A lot of non-profits do these clinics. Soul Dog Rescue drives down almost weekly from Fort Lupton and spays or neuters 70 to 150 animals in a weekend. They’re doing it, we’re doing it and others are doing it, but the waitlist we have is over 400 names long. Soul Dog’s is over 1,000. Dogs can have two or three more litters before we get to them at the rate we’re going,” she said. “We need funding, vets and facilities. There’s a huge lack of resources.”

Todacheene is grateful for the Navajo Nation chapter houses and various churches and business that allow clinics to use their facilities for spay and neuter sites. She bases Turquoise Paw Rescue’s philosophy on the Navajo culture belief that Dine’ people are stewards of all living things – the earth and living creatures.

Neither Todacheene nor Browning receive a paycheck for their work or even get reimbursed for gas in their vehicles. Todacheene is a caretaker. Browning is an event coordinator who works nights and weekends remotely. Both foster the animals until they can get them to a shelter or a forever home. At her residence in Farmington, Browning takes on the “bottle babies,” the ones too young to feed themselves. Sometimes, it’s a whole litter, which her personal rescue dogs don’t seem to mind. Todacheene takes the rest to what has become known as “The Farm,” her land in Shiprock, where she has about 15 outdoor kennels.

“The animals are safe and warm and fed until we can move them to a safer, better place,” said Browning. But sometimes that never happens and the tasks are overwhelming. The women coordinate with 70 to 100 shelters on a regular basis and about 10 to 15 pilots. “Everybody meets the Turquoise Paw volunteers at the Shiprock airport. Sometimes we’re the only airplane, sometimes there are three or four others,” said David.

David and Nancy Weeks fly in once a week with a mostly empty fuselage and fly out with crates full of dogs. “The most we’ve had is 15, with multiple puppies in some of the crates,” said Nancy. “Usually they are very quiet on the flight. I think they are terrified,” added David. “They might whine for a little while, but then they seem to go catatonic.”

Turquoise Paw hosted its first spay and neuter clinic last month. In four days, volunteer veterinarians performed surgery on 178 dogs and cats, and administered 1,500 vaccinations. One hundred and one animals were put into rescue homes. Services were offered for free, paid for with $4,000 in donations raised through a GoFundMe page.

“We are doing what we do because we love the animals and we are passionate about the animals,” said Browning.

David and Nancy also are animal lovers and have their own rescue dogs. “It’s very hard not to want to take the Rez Dogs home,” said Nancy, who retired from a career in investment management. “It’s so much fun, the dogs are so cute and it’s wonderful to know they are going to better lives.”

“We’re in a position to do this as a charitable contribution and I love flying light aircraft. It’s just about the perfect charitable work,” said David, who also is involved with Angel Flight, an emergency transport network for humans and LightHawk, an environmental conservation nonprofit that requires aerial photography.

“I’m so proud of David,” said Nancy. “Within a month of his retirement, he found a way to combine his love of flying with doing something meaningful.”

And that “burn baby,” as Browning once called him, now goes by Sage. “The doctor says he is eating and wagging his tail and the fluids are helping him a great deal. The vet staff has fallen in love with him,” Browning assured Turquoise Paw followers on Facebook. “Sage’s vet bill is continuing to be very costly. We know he is worth it but we could really use the help covering his expensive treatments.”

To make a donation to Turquoise Paw, visit the Facebook page at facebook.com/TurquoisePaw/ or send a check to Turquoise Paw Rescue, P.O. Box 4707, Shiprock, NM 87420. QCBN

By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN

 

Filed Under: Local News Tagged With: adopt a pet, Dogs, pets, Pilots, rescue dogs, Rez dogs, Turquoise Paw

Women Pilots Take to the Air

July 15, 2016 By quadcities Leave a Comment

womanpilots“One of the biggest thrills of my life – being able to hold the American flag to start this 40th annual Air Race Classic for women.”

The sun was bright and warm in the early morning sky. So was Penny Carruthers’s smile as she waved the Stars and Stripes and the first plane roared down the runway.

The petite 94-year-old waved that same flag for 53 more women pilot teams. They had arrived in Prescott on June 17, for the nation’s premier transcontinental speed competition for women pilots. The pilots, their friends and families from across the United States stayed for several days in the Quad Cities and spent thousands of dollars before they crossed the starting line on June 21, at Earnest A. Love Field on their way to Daytona Beach, Florida.

Carruthers, who earned her pilot’s license in 1966, when she was 44, kept flying until she was 85. In fact, she had flown in the historic race when it was called the Powder Puff Derby before race format and name change occurred 40 years ago. “Aviation found me – and I was never the same again,” she said.

Carruthers now lives in Prescott. Previously, she lived in Sedona, when she and her husband helped start the airport in 1971.

Hundreds of locals and visitors joined her to send off the 54 competing teams, on their way across 2,400 miles for the next four days. They would stop only for refueling and overnight stops.

Both campuses for ERAU – Prescott and Daytona Beach – had collegiate entries in the race. “We’ve quite proud of our Lady Eagles and their aviation skills and willingness to compete in this major cross-country race. But we’re also quite proud that ERAU is the host for the race, not just in Prescott but also Daytona Beach,” said ERAU-Prescott Chancellor Frank Ayers.

“This competition has given positive viability not only to ERAU but also to Prescott, where volunteers, hosts and sponsors have been exceptional,” Ayers said.

By Ray Newton, QCBN

 

PHOTO CAPTION:

Penny Carruthers, a 94-year old retired pilot with more than 50 years flying experience, was named official starter for the 40th annual Air Race Classic, which became airborne in Prescott on June 21. She and Theresa White, an ARC board member from Kent, Washington, shared stories of their cross-country flying experiences before the race began.

Photo by Ray Newton

 

Filed Under: Local News Tagged With: air race, Pilots, woman

XCopter Training Pilots

July 8, 2016 By quadcities Leave a Comment

xcopterFlying in a helicopter may well be an experience most of us will never forget. But piloting a helicopter is like trying to rub your head in a circular motion while patting your stomach and dancing the Macarena – all at the same time, according to a local pilot.

Every part of the body is moving – just like the parts of the helicopter. And all parts – human or helicopter – must be under absolute control. Complicating the process are factors like weather conditions or system failures.

Above all that is the expense of learning to fly. Costs are in the thousands.

 

Simulator Technology – New Horizons for Helicopter Training Originated in Prescott?

John Stonecipher, president and CEO of Guidance Aviation in Prescott, is confident he and engineers and other technically skilled people with his firm can introduce a sophisticated training device that will save time and money for aspiring helicopter pilots. He is striving to bring more pilots into the rapidly growing multi-million dollar aviation industry. He says the need is great, citing examples of first responders and wildfire crews who use helicopters routinely.

“Pilots for years have used realistic simulation software while learning to fly. But most of that simulation-support was for fixed wing training. Only recently have helicopter training programs embraced simulators,” said Stonecipher.

That is what prompted him to create XCopter, a true-to-life helicopter simulation experience that parallels the real world that Stonecipher found in a Robison Helicopter Aircraft.

Stonecipher said he admired Robison helicopters during his teen years, so he learned to fly a chopper by the time he was 18. Shortly thereafter, he became a test pilot for Robinson. That led him to found Guidance Aviation in 1998.

Now located in Prescott, Guidance Aviation has grown into a nationally recognized aviation company with more than 100 employees, 25 aircraft and education partnerships with collegiate institutions around the United States, including in Prescott.

Prescott native John Markham, who earned a degree in electrical engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott, has years of aviation experience in his educational background and his years in the Army as an Airborne Ranger. He recently joined the Stonecipher executive team. As production and project engineer, Markham knows every detail about the XCopter.

He supervises the construction of every XCopter produced and provides in-depth background to every potential user or buyer of the simulators.

The base cost for the XCopter can be as much as $100,000, but as Markham explains, that is many thousands less than a real helicopter for training students. He says the XCopter provides a solid learning platform through simulated flight without the expense of fuel, maintenance and upkeep. And it can be used no matter how bad the weather is outside.

 

What Makes XCopter So Real?

Markham says XCopter was designed to replicate as closely as possible a true-to-life experience such as you would get in a Robinson helicopter. “Once you’re in the cockpit, you’ll feel just like you’re in the physical and functional environment of a real aircraft.”

He says piloting a helicopter requires far more attention than flying a fixed wing pilot. “It’s an order of magnitudes different.”

He said the advantage of using the XCopter is that an instructor can control the learning environment for the student’s benefit, making it safe for students to practice complex maneuvers and master difficult skills.

“A good thing, too, about the simulator is that we can create emergencies and systems failures and other malfunctions in a risk-free environment, unlike what would happen if we were in an actual craft. The instructor can surprise the student with an emergency – without crashing him.”

He explained that simulator shape, seating, controls and the two high-resolution touch screen instrument panels replicate that of a real helicopter. In a curved display, four massive 55-inch video screens wrap around the cabin frame and surround the pilot with a crisp, full-color panoramic view of the immediate outside world.

“The reality continues when you use flight controls,” said Markham. “We spent hundreds of hours engineering and manufacturing these controls to exact specifications. The cyclic, the anti-torque pedals, and the collective/throttle a pilot uses are precisely modeled after the ‘real thing’ in a Robinson helicopter. Our technical design and precise computer control equate to the digital precision you’d encounter in flying the actual craft.”

Instructors train students in the simulator to fly in all kinds of terrain and weather, and have the option of practicing at more than 30,000 airports around the world. All that is possible because of software that recreates the situation in a selected community or country.

“We can figuratively and visually take you from our Prescott airport to one in Florida – or in Florence, Italy – all through sophisticated computer programing,” Markham said. He demonstrated by switching from the arid high country of Arizona to the coastal inland and waters of Monterrey Bay in California.

Along with training future helicopter pilots, Stonecipher, Markham and other officials at Guidance Aviation are manufacturing XCopters for sale to other firms.

“The nation and the world has a need for trained and licensed helicopter pilots, and we’re in a position to help make that happen. We can provide simulation training in one of our 10 XCopters at a much lower cost than that of flying a real helicopter. Once students have polished basic skills through simulation training, we put them into one of the real helicopters we own. They then complete their training and qualify for a license,” said Stonecipher. QCBN

By Ray Newton, QCBN 

Additional information about XCopter and Guidance Aviation is available at www.Xcopter.aero, or by contacting Guidance Aviation, 6565 Crystal Lane, Prescott, AZ 86301 or at 928 443-9371

 Photo by Ray Newton

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: Feature, Pilots, training, XCopter

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