Disabled Vet learns to fly again

[ScottM]

Tammy Duckworth, the former Black Hawk helicopter pilot who lost both her legs to a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq, hoists herself into a single-engine Piper Cherokee.

She turns the key, taxis to a runway, pushes the throttle and pulls back on the yoke to coax the four-seat plane, its propeller whirling, onward and upward.

Now it's blue skies for Duckworth, who's flying again.

For the 41-year-old assistant U.S. veterans affairs secretary, flying equals freedom, even if it's not adrenaline-drenched combat duty but sailing over exurban Virginia's forests and farms.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-tammy-duckworth-30-aug30,0,933682.story

Kudos to her!!!

 

[gprellwitz]

That's great, and her husband flies too! Reading that story and watching the video, I couldn't help but think of Jessica Cox.

Speaking of whom, Dr. Bruce, you need to contact her. She's thinking of going for planes larger than the Ercoupe, and will be needing a class III medical. Hopefully she can get a SODA.

 

[AdamZ]

Bravo Zulu to Maj. Duckworth. So much of guts is attitude and she has it in triplicate ( just like an army form)

 

[TangoWhiskey]

Glad I searched the archives!

There's a TERRIFIC article about Tammy starting on pages 64/65 of the new March 2010 AOPA Pilot. You have to read it!

What a comeback and unbreakable spirit. Look at the pictures, see the fight in her smile.

 

[gprellwitz]

There's been talk about her leaving her VA post and running for state office (Governor or Lt. Governor) in Illinois. Whether she has actually participated in any of that talk, I don't know!

 

[maddog52]

I talked with her and her husband at Oshkosh for quite a while 2 years ago. She was trying on one of our Sky Arrows with the adaptive hand controls. She's a very sharp individual. I doubt she would have any problem passing a SODA ride.