AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - January 2019 - 76

CAMPERS AT Big Sky Kids Cancer

Survivor's Flight Camp participate in all
aspects of flight instruction, from
ground school to takeoffs and landings.
The goal is to expose them to flight,
not necessarily push them into full-time
flight training. Brett Walund preflights
(above) while Darla Brown takes
the back seat for a flight with
Graham Tredwell (top right), whose
flight instructor was Summit Aviation's
Austin Larson. Tredwell flew over the
geysers in Yellowstone National Park
in the left seat, Larson in the right.

GIVING BACK
Summit Aviation partners with local businesses and individuals to raise the $12,000
needed to sponsor four young cancer
survivors each summer at the Eagle Mount
Annual Cancer Survivor Flight Camp. For
more information or to donate, visit the
website (www.flysummit.net/flight-school/
eagle-mount-cancer-survivor-camp) or
visit the fundraising page (www.gofundme.
com/cancer-survivor-flight-camp).

76 | AOPA PILOT January 2019

"It was pretty spontaneous," Tredwell
said. "I saw this opportunity on Thursday,
quit my job, got in my van, and arrived here
on Saturday."
"Here" is Summit Aviation, a flight
school nestled in Big Sky Country, at the
base of the Bridgers Mountains, outside
Bozeman, Montana, in Belgrade. It's
owned by an intrepid adventurer not unlike
Tredwell. When Ben Walton graduated
from Indiana State in 1999 with his
professional pilot certificates, he got in his
van and drove to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
He lived in his van in the national forest
and attempted to drum up students to
teach to fly. He eventually wound up in
Bozeman, and-from a closet in a friend's
hangar-started teaching. Summit Aviation
now has 15 aircraft and 20 instructors (see
"Summit's Success," p. 79).
Along his journey Walton met and
married his wife, Rachel, and cancer
reached out and touched them, too.
Walton's mother died of lung cancer
and his sister-in-law, Heather, had colon
cancer. She was just 28 years old and since
the treatment was so expensive, Ben and
Rachel searched for ways to help. He
organized a "Touch-and-go-athon" to raise
money for her treatment.
"It was our first humanitarian thing,"
he said. "I didn't know anything about
nonprofits and helping others." Heather
died of her cancer at 34 in 2005. His

mother died in 2015. "Her diagnosis and
battle were a big part of my inspiration for
this program," Walton said.
A friend told him about a camp
for cancer survivors that took the
patients kayaking and on other outdoor
adventures. Walton said he looked around
and thought we have something special
here, and he wanted to share it with
those affected by cancer. Working with
Eagle Mount, a charitable organization
established in 1982 to help children with
disabilities and cancer, Walton started
the Big Sky Kids Cancer Survivor's Camp
in 2014. Every summer, Eagle Mount
identifies four young adults who have
overcome the disease and brings them
to Summit to experience flying in some
of the most beautiful vistas in the world.
"Over the course of a week, our
campers are transformed from passengers
to pilots-learning how to fly airplanes,
performing their own takeoffs and
landings, and experiencing the thrill of
cross-country flight over Yellowstone
National Park," said Jen Nunes, project
manager. "The transformation these
individuals go through is amazing. For
some, it's a chance at an incredible
experience after stolen opportunities; for
others, it's about removing limitations and
revealing new skills and abilities."
Tredwell had applied for the 2018
camp but didn't get in. However, two

http://www.flysummit.net/flight-school/eagle-mount-cancer-survivor-camp http://www.flysummit.net/flight-school/eagle-mount-cancer-survivor-camp http://www.gofundme.com/cancer-survivor-flight-camp http://www.gofundme.com/cancer-survivor-flight-camp

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - January 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - January 2019