[Mark McConaughy]

Well all I can say they sure ain't gonna call if you don't let them know your out there ready willing and able. Yes, large groups of people are moving by the airlines and military. However, as they start to move people in smaller groups and the movement of high priority personnel and supplies and as housing becomes available for individual families, the need for small aircraft will become obvious. Even the military recognizes the need for small aircraft, there are many aircraft in the military inventory, (including at onetime our beloved skymaster) that move smaller numbers of folks all the time. Exactly how many C-12s (KingAirs) does the military have? Hundreds.

Yes, the donations are important but we have a valuable asset that can be used to benefit our fellow citizens. This is no game; the country needs all the help it can get. Someone referred to Dunkirk several days ago. Well that effort was almost entirely private citizens. It’s about 3:00PM CST as I’m writing this on Sunday 09/04. According to FOX News they are estimating in downtown New Orleans alone there are probably fifty (yes I said 50) thousand people that need to be evacuated, that’s not counting the outlying Parishes (or counties if you prefer). The military God Bless em are doing a fine job and frankly they make me proud, but they are going to be maxed out for a while, and like Kevin said, moving doctors and other emergency personnel one, two, or three at a time is right up our alley. Did I mention that some of the airports aren’t in the best shape to handle large aircraft? I seem to remember something about skymasters might be good for short fields, but who knows.

One other thing, in light of some of the boo boos by some in the GA community as of late it wouldn’t hurt for the public to see us helping people and doing some good with our “toys”.