Helene relief flights

[AlleyCat67]

Yesterday I took part in transporting supplies to western North Carolina as part of the Hurricane Helene relief effort. While we often wring our hands about the declining state of GA, it was honestly inspiring to see hundreds of planes and pilots of all types crisscrossing the state to get supplies to the affected communities. There were probably 50+ planes being marshalled at Statesville alone, everything from Cessna 172s to King Airs and even a DC-3. And dozens of local volunteers making up pallets of supplies and loading them onto planes and helicopters.

I really wish/hope a documentary filmmaker was on the ground to capture the impact of the relief flights and tell some of the stories. If ever there was a "feel good" story to tell about the value of GA and small airports this was it.

As a side note, one of the oddest and saddest comments I got was from a woman organizing supply distribution in Ashe County. When I asked her what additional supplies were really needed she sort of whispered "alcohol". Apparently they have a lot of dependent folks going through the DT's because they can't find liquor.

 

[Kitch]

Very awesome !! I set out to head down last weekend for the week. Unfortunately it's my busy time of year and couldn't break away.

 

[Brad W]

I was wondering about this a few days ago...
Saw a vid online, well actually a couple of them...involving folks with private helicopters doing some volunteer relief flights
Set me to wondering what good could a fixed wing really do?
A helo can drop into places up a haller' that have been cut off by road...but I don't image there are too many runways that are isolated and cut off by road to the outside world. Maybe some expediting of "stuff" from outside of the immediate area... like medicine or whatever coming from a longer distance away...but what other sorts of things can a fixed-wing pilot really offer (especially a PPL, not capable of "air taxi" transport type stuff)

 

[RyanB]

Yes, we did lots this week.

 

[AlleyCat67]

I was wondering about this a few days ago...
Saw a vid online, well actually a couple of them...involving folks with private helicopters doing some volunteer relief flights
Set me to wondering what good could a fixed wing really do?
A helo can drop into places up a haller' that have been cut off by road...but I don't image there are too many runways that are isolated and cut off by road to the outside world. Maybe some expediting of "stuff" from outside of the immediate area... like medicine or whatever coming from a longer distance away...but what other sorts of things can a fixed-wing pilot really offer (especially a PPL, not capable of "air taxi" transport type stuff)

It's a valid point, and helos seem to be the most useful/needed transport down there. I talked to one guy whose company lent their pilots and helicopters for the relief effort and they could get into individual communities, which was good to see. I'd say fixed wing has been useful for collecting supplies from a wider area. Lots of people in surrounding states are happy to donate materials, but trucking them down several hundred miles isn't trivial, and GA really helps with that. But that's just my (non expert) take.