The Disabled Can Fly: An Able Flight Scholarship Provides the Lift

Jessica Cox

Friday, September 16, 2022 at 09:24 PM ET

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Nathaniel Miller, with Able Flight graduates, class of 2022. [Courtesy: ableflight.org]

Key Takeaways:

The article highlights the significant concerns pilots with disabilities have regarding maintaining their medical certification and their desire to continue powered flight despite these challenges.
Able Flight is presented as a crucial organization that empowers individuals with disabilities by offering scholarships and specialized training, fostering self-confidence and self-reliance through aviation.
As exemplified by Nathaniel Miller's story, becoming a pilot-in-command offers a unique sense of freedom from daily ground-based barriers and social stigmas, powerfully reaffirming an individual's willpower and resolve.

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Disability is something that pilots always have in the back of their minds, because becoming disabled could mean losing their third-class medical certificate. It is a frequent topic for discussion at my Experimental Aircraft Association chapter every month.

I mentioned this to another pilot at this year’s EAA AirVenture. Rather than thinking of how to appeal a medical denial, he just said, “If you ever have a problem getting your third-class medical, you could always fly gliders. You don’t need a medical for that.”