Four men, two aircraft, 20,000 miles, 20 countries, and 60 days.
That's how Windsor pilot Russ Airey is promoting Give Hope Wings, an epic journey around Central and South America in the name of charity.
He told AM800 News he and BC native Dave McElroy planned the trip for fun, but both decided the trip should be for a good cause. That cause is Hope Air and Airey and company intend to raise $500,000 for organization. The group arranges free flights for Canadians in secluded parts of the country who need medical care.
Airey says the flight is self funded and all the money raised goes Give Hope Wings. The original goal was $400,000, but Airey says people have been so receptive, they decided to raise the bar.
"We're basically circumnavigation Central and South America all along the coast," says Airey. "If you just draw your finger along the whole coast of the southern continent, that's what we're going to do. All the way down to the very south to Tierra del Fuego (Chile) and then head back up to Brazil and through to the Caribbean islands."
Windsor pilot Russ Airey flying his Van's RV9. (Photo courtesy of Russ Airey)
The original plan was to have four people on the trip but Airey says one of the co-pilots dropped out. He says that presented another opportunity to make money and give his partner a new person in the cockpit every couple weeks.
"We're actually getting people to sponsor us and fly with us. We have five people that are actually going to donate and fly with us for anywhere from a week to two weeks. We're raising quite a bit of money through that venture as well."
Airey and company depart from San Diego on Jan. 8 of 2018.
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