New air ambulance service planned
Redington Beach man hopes to launch Florida-based charity service
By BOB McCLURE
| Article published on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 |
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| Photo by BOB McCLURE |
| Rock O’Neal of Redington Beach hopes to inaugurate a Florida-based charity air ambulance service that would complement Indiana-based Grace On Wings. |
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REDINGTON BEACH – Rock O’Neal has always been a man of faith.
But it was only recently, after reading Joel Osteen’s book “Become a Better You,” that the 60-year-old Redington Beach resident decided to give something back and launch a Florida-based charity air ambulance operation.
“I’ve been blessed to live in the United States,” he said. “I just decided it’s time to give something back.”
O’Neal, a student pilot who has been interested in aviation since his childhood, started looking at aviation charities. His first search located a service in Texas that was on the verge of going out of business.
Then he located Indianapolis-based Grace On Wings, a free service that flies handicapped and bed-ridden patients to locations around the country. O’Neal quickly got in touch with founder Hal Blank and got more information.
“From what I found, the organization’s Mitsubishi MU2 is the only charity-operated aircraft in the country,” said O’Neal. “And they started with nothing.”
Immediately, the light went on in O’Neal’s head. Why not launch a branch of Grace On Wings or a similar operation in Florida where a large majority of the flights come from?
“Most of their trips have been in and out of Florida,” said O’Neal. “So (Blank) believes an airplane here would really help their cause.”
“There’s a lot of need in Florida,” Blank said. “If we could get it going it would be great.”
Preliminary talks have begun about forming a Grace On Wings chapter in Florida. If it doesn’t fall into place, O’Neal hopes to form an independent entity that works hand-in-hand with Blank’s operation.
“He would be his own entity as of right now,” said Blank. “Currently, the way we see it, we applaud his efforts and want to do everything we can to help (O’Neal) get going. He has the vision and he has the drive.”
The service would be used to transport patients following surgery to an after-care facility or their home. Commercial air ambulances currently charge between $30,000 and $50,000 for the service, depending on distance.
Grace On Wings operates on donations from churches and community groups, providing its services for free.
O’Neal’s operation would function the same way, he said.
O’Neal said the need right now is finding the right people to plug into the organization on a volunteer basis.
“Right now I’m trying to find a few people that share the vision, would act as board members and get out to the churches and help to put on the ministry,” O’Neal said. “I can’t do this without the help of a lot of good people. I need brainpower right now more than money.”
He figures the support of about seven churches would be enough to finance the operation. The biggest cost would be the purchase of an MU2, a twin-engine prop aircraft that meets the capabilities for this type of operation. The cost for a used plane ranges from $500,000 to $800,000, he said.
“It’s comparatively inexpensive to buy compared to other turbo-prop planes,” O’Neal said. “It’s very well built and pressurized.”
“It’s a very good aircraft,” said Blank. “It’s probably the safest turbo-prop for this type of mission. It’s low to the ground, which makes it easy to load and unload a patient. It’s also fuel efficient and it’s fast.”
Blank said Grace On Wings flew 17 missions in its first six months and eight of those flights were to Florida.
“A lot of people (in Florida) fly to Houston,” said Blank. “It (having a Florida operation) would make it a lot more efficient for us than to fly down there, pick up a patient, transport to Houston and then fly back to Indianapolis.”
Blank said his fixed monthly costs are about $13,200 for insurance, hangar space and bank expenses. All of his pilots and medical staff are volunteers.
O’Neal figures his staff size would be similar to the 10 volunteers Grace On Wings used for its startup in November.
And he’s not concerned about starting a major project like this at age 60.
“A good friend of mine started a 20-year project at age 70,” said O’Neal. “Maybe this is my 20-year project.”
No name for the service has been decided upon yet but O’Neal has an idea.
“I kind of like Charity Flights USA, or something like that,” he said.
For further information, contact O’Neal at 729-0865.
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Article published on Tuesday, July 8, 2008
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