Page 13 - Volume 10 Number 12

Neil Hise (right) volunteers his time and his King Air C90SE to Veterans Airlift Command and his daughter Jennifer Hise (left) joins him on some flights. Here they are giving a free flight to Army Sgt. Matthew Melancon, who lost both feet when an improvised explosive device hit his vehicle in Afghanistan.
flights – non-stop routes, flying above weather and plenty of cabin room for family members, service dogs or medical equipment.
According to Jen Salvati, executive director, the organization has coordinated nearly 13,000 flights covering more than 7.8 million miles with the generosity of more than 2,500 pilots and owners. That includes 90 King Air pilots who have signed up for the VAC network and volunteered for missions.
In 2015, King Air magazine featured two pilots who regularly fly for VAC: Neil Hise, the second-generation owner of a New Mexico-based manufacturing company who flies a 1996 King Air C90SE, and Jim Harris, flying a 1981 King Air 200C owned by his employer, CHI Aviation headquartered in Michigan. Both are still flying VAC missions.
CHI Aviation is scheduled this month to fly its 43rd volunteer mission; most have been for VAC, along with a few for Honor Flight Network, which transports veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit memorials honoring their service and sacrifice. Harris recently flew a 92-year- old World War II veteran from southern Michigan to Traverse City, where he took part in a donated flight on an airliner with other veterans.
DECEMBER 2016
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 11
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