In October, we are planning to run a course for veterans, giving them the unique opportunity of working and indeed learning Aviation engineering on the last remaining Skymaster in Europe! We have a dedicated team of experienced and licensed Engineers who will guide these veterans – and they point out that working on the Skymaster gives a person experience in systems that cannot be achieved anywhere else! And what is exciting is that once these veterans can understand how the Skymaster operates – it is an excellent starting point to understand modern aircraft.
Steve Bohill- Smith, a volunteer of Save the Skymaster and ex Concorde pilot says that “Working on this project will have a huge impact on young people’s lives. The opportunity to work on big propliners like the Skymaster is quite unique for young people and will most certainly enhance their careers in aviation going forward”
Besides the learning opportunities, the very special Skymaster family will welcome these veterans and they will become an intrinsic part of this amazing team. This will effectively put an end to the loneliness and isolation that veterans must be feeling.
We are only able to do this because of the grants from The Veterans Foundation as well as the Royal Benevolent Fund who have generously awarded us with these grants enabling us to offer a holistic course that also embraces emotional and mental well-being. And to this end, we are thrilled and indeed honored to share this platform with PTSD Resolution. They have a network of 200 therapists across the UK – all trained to counsel the many challenges of being a veteran, especially during the pandemic. We are planning our workshops to include the fine work that PTSD Resolution does, specializing in trauma counseling.
Save the Skymaster’s project leader and CEO, Allan Vogel describes it this way “Restoring the Skymaster 56498 is a massive task but the manner in which this enables us to touch others’ lives is huge. The value thereof is too much to quantify. If we can make a difference in just one veteran’s life – then it makes the entire project worthwhile. It is not just about restoring an aircraft – it is also about restoring lives. Having a team of licensed Engineers fully dedicated to this project helps us achieve these goals. We are passionate about what we do and are determined to make a difference”.
