The Blue Sky Award is given to any volunteer who, in the past year, has given above and beyond the normal volunteer effort. This year we are proud to present the Blue Sky Award to Neal Glassett of Peoria, IL.
Neal became a Command Pilot in September of 2021. IN 10 months, he flew 81.9 hours and 4,642 NM over 12 legs in his Piper/PA-32R Saratoga. (No wonder it needed new seats). From his first flight to now, Neal is a pilot who takes on long flights and picks up the legs that are difficult to fill.
Neal is based here, at 3MY. His first flight was going to Blue Earth, MN, and taking repeat passenger Lori home to Pierre, SD, where he had a maintenance issue and was stranded for several days. Despite his first experience being stuck in South Dakota in the Winter, Neal still wanted to pick up flights.
He flew from Peoria to Savannah, TN, and took Cassie all the way to Houston, TX, and back. Twice. He flew Sofia from Indianapolis to Rhode Island and then, to really make it efficient, he picked up Manasa and her mother from Baltimore and dropped them in Ohio. He made sure Rickie and his family returned to Pennsylvania, taking them all the way from Peoria in one leg.
Neal also was willing to look potentially silly to raise money for LifeLine Pilots. First, he grew a bushy “Santa” style beard. He offered his co-workers the say in how it was slowly shaped if they would donate to LifeLine Pilots. Not only did we collect more than $4K, but we also got to see Neal with Mutton Chops!
In the words of passenger Rickie’s father Richard, “We can never thank you enough for all that you have done.”