Breaking Barriers: The gift of flight

     Individuals with disabilities need to experience leisure as well. Leisure is very important to many people and the gift of flight should not be a barrier for those with disabilities. The APT trust, which is the Aviation for Paraplegics and Tetraplegics Charitable Trust, have designed specially adapted aircrafts in Salisbury, UK. These planes called Shadow Microlight aircrafts are designed to be controlled and operated by those with physical disabilities. The aircraft is controlled with just the arms of the individual (Madipalli, 2011). In the picture below, the extended handles and display options are easily accessible by pilot.

     Flight enables people to participate in leisure when they perhaps thought is was not possible. The flight controls are in the hands of a capable instructor and pilot in the cockpit directly behind the student. Each of the students are disabled individuals learning to fly. Using a lift, the individual is placed in the cock pit of the aircraft and the seat is adjusted for comfort. Once comfortable, the pilot and trainee check all controls. The main pilot takes the aircraft into the air and has the student stabilize the plane and turn left or right to experience flight. Each lesson progresses until the students become pilots (Solomon, 1994).

     In the state of North Carolina, here in the USA, there is another flight school for those with disabilities. The program Able Flight focuses on the experience of flying. Recently, a wounded war veteran obtained his pilots license. Using the Sky Arrow 600 Sport, the pilot is able to navigate the skies using modified controls for flight. The changes these types of companies are doing is bringing awareness, incorporating socialization, and recreating identities after a substantial loss of ability (Stites, 2006). 


     The pros and cons for this type of endeavor are pretty straight forward. Safety is always a concern considering the disabled individual has complete control of the aircraft at certain points during the flight. Cost is another deterring factor. Some of the programs have scholarships but mostly, this type of activity comes as an out of pocket expense. The pros would be the experience of flight as a disabled individual, the socialization aspect, and the identity of being a pilot. 


     There are two types of aircrafts highlighted in this posting. The first was the Shadow Microlight aircraft and the Sky Arrow 600 Sport. These are two aircrafts adapted for individuals with disabilities. All controls are manipulated with just the use of hands. There are extended flight controls and raised platform displays for easy viewing. The two differences between the two types of aircrafts are the control platforms.


Citations

Madipalli, S. (2011, September 12). Adapted Flying. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from Disability Horizons:                  http://www.disabilityhorizons.com

Solomon, S. (1994, May 14). APT Charitable Trust. Retrieved July 16, 2012, from Disabled Flying: http://www.disabledflying.org.uk/index.php

Stites, C. H. (2006, January 12). Able Flight Home Page . Retrieved July 15, 2012, from Able Flight: http://ableflight.org/about-us

Photos by

Diabilityhorizons.com

Disabledflying.org

Ableflight.org/galleries