TBM Owners And Pilots Association Joins Effort

Both Mallory "Mal" Zackery of Georgia and Kenneth Hendrickson of Minnesota became disabled as a result of violent acts. For Zackery, it was a shot from a robber's gun that left him paralyzed as he was making the night deposit for the store where he served as a manager. Ken Hendrickson suffered multiple major internal and orthopedic injuries as he was thrown from his Humvee when a powerful IED exploded underneath.

They are years apart in age, and were continents apart when their lives were changed forever... but the two men, who have yet to meet, actually have a lot in common. Neither believes in self-pity, and both share the determination to meet not only the physical challenges they must face every day, but to meet the challenges of becoming a pilot.  

In his application to earn a flight training scholarship from North Carolina-based Able Flight, Zackery (above) wrote that after learning of the organization, "Now a fire is burning inside of me, a desire to rise again, to do all of the things I never thought possible. Learning to fly an airplane will prove to me, and others that this is not the end, that I don't have to simply be that person in a wheelchair; that I can continue to live and learn, to grow and mature."

Hendrickson (below) wrote, "It would have been very easy to sit home and feel sorry for myself and get depressed. But I have a zest for life and for living. I have to constantly challenge myself to overcome these difficulties. Obtaining a pilot's license would prove to be the ultimate challenge, both physically and mentally."

As you might have guessed already, Able Flight announced this week the TBM Owners and Pilots Association Foundation is providing funding for Mal Zackery's training which will take place in a specially-adapted Sky Arrow 600 at Hansen Air Group in Kennesaw, GA.

Kenneth Hendrickson's training at LSA North in Lakewood, MN is being supported by the members of the East Cooper Pilots Association of Mt. Pleasant, SC. This is the second year that ECPA has provided support for a wounded veteran, in honor of their late friend Colonel Woody Faison.

With their selections, Mal and Kenneth are the 21st and 22nd Able Flight Scholarship winners.

FMI: www.ableflight.org