AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 68

This was her last treatment," Tauscher
recalled. "The weatherman called for
snow flurries and I looked forward to
that because we usually get rain that time
of year."
After her treatment, which lasted
about an hour, Tauscher and JR took
off and halfway to Friday Harbor met
a wall of heavy black overcast down to
the ground. They turned back to Skagit,
where he had a car, and they drove to the
ferry. Because of the weather, the ferry
was delayed, and they did not return to
Friday Harbor until after 9 p.m. Tauscher
made sure JR got to her home but learned
from his wife that his home was covered
by snow and the hill to his house impassable. So, he rented a motel room in town.
That night he tripped in the room
and landed hard on his side. By morning
he was in a lot of pain but drove home.
Several neighbors came and helped get
the car up the drive, but he still had to
walk half a mile to his house. He got into
his home at 3 p.m.
"So here is the math: We left at 11 a.m.
and I got home at 3 p.m. the following
day. It was the 28-hour flight," he said.
When the snow cleared, and he was
able to get to the clinic, he found he had
broken a rib. He was already scheduled
to start radiation for prostate cancer but
with his broken rib, he couldn't fly himself. "So, I became the next San Juan
Eagles patient," he said.
Most days are flyable, but if poor
weather does cancel a flight, the
Soroptimist Club provides backup vouchers for ferry travel.
In the 16 years since Thalacker flew
the first flight of the San Juan Eagles,
more than 1,400 flights have been made
across Puget Sound. Of the 30 pilots who
volunteer for the San Juan Eagles, four
have made more than 100 flights each.
The Eagles average about 200 flights per
year. With some radiation and chemotherapy treatments occurring five times
a week for several weeks at a time, pilots
can get to know their patients/passengers well.
"My most moving memory was the
patient I had flown several years ago in
late spring. On her last flight home, the
sun started to come out and we had a
fairly calm, late afternoon, so I asked her
if she wanted to circle the island. She
68 | AOPA PILOT July 2018

"I want to fly with the Silver Eagles,
pin those wings upon my chest.
I want to fly with the Silver Eagles,
I know I'm flying with the best.
I want to soar with the Silver Eagles,
in the sky's where I belong.
Let me soar with the Silver Eagles,
and touch down safe and strong."
said no, but she said she had never seen
her house from the air," said pilot Mike
Taylor. "We made maybe three turns over
the house, and she just watched it from
above...never took her eyes off it. She had
the most serene expression, looking down
at their family house from above. No outward sign of fear, or of being distraught;
she knew the score. After about the third
turn she said 'I'm ready, you can take me
home.' She passed about a week later.
"That single last flight taught me a lot
about the dignity of life, was an incredible privilege, and is painted into my
memory," he said.
AOPA
EMAIL julie.walker@aopa.org

PILOT MIKE TAYLOR and pilot-

turned-patient Bob Tauscher
prepare to fly to Skagit (below).
The Washington State Ferry
system is synonomous with the
San Juan Islands, but the trip to
the mainland is two and a half
hours long; scenic for tourists but
a lengthy time spent away from
home for locals needing cancer
treatment.
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018
