Fri, May 20, 2016
EAA Member Travels to the Lower 48 States Giving Rides and Encouragement to Cancer Patients
We all know that general aviation and recreational flying mean different things to different people. In this AeroSports Update we are sharing with you information we received about a book that shows how recreational aviation can be more than just about flying airplane.
“The true story of a man, the airplane he built, his mission, and his battle with cancer.” These words grace the cover of Jim Davis’ new book, Until September: Nine Months to Give, recently published and now ready for distribution. In this book you’ll learn how cancer patient Davis, age 75, faced the challenges of landing his airplane in each of the lower 48 states during the summer of 2015, which doctors had predicted would be the last summer of his life. Learn how he made friends at many EAA chapters by giving rides to those who had either successfully faced or were currently fighting cancer.
Davis had finished construction of his amateur-built Savannah and received his airworthiness certificate in March of 2010, the same year he received his first cancer diagnosis. The battle was on: first lip cancer, successfully treated with surgery; then lung cancer, again treated with surgery; then lung cancer again – with no possible treatment, and a prognosis of nine months to live. Many would have retired from flying....but not Jim Davis.
He loves to give rides to anyone, especially Young Eagles, and this love inspired his new mission. After considerable planning and preparation, he climbed into his Savannah and took off for a journey of 14,750 miles, spending 191 hours in the air, and landing in each of the lower 48 states. He flew more than 106 days, putting smiles on the faces of 51 cancer patients, survivors and kids.
There's more to learn about this brave and giving pilot, and his book. Contact Jim Davis at the email address or facebook page shown below.
(Book cover image from EAA press release)
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