Become a Volunteer Pilot: Hope Air

[avcanada]

VOLUNTEER PILOT PROGRAM

What is Hope Air?

Hope Air provides free air transportation to Canadians who require medical treatment outside their home communities. We’re able to provide this service through donated commercial airline seats, corporate aircraft, and volunteer pilots - like you.

What is the Volunteer Pilot Program?

The Volunteer Pilot Program (“VPP”) provides general aviation pilots with the opportunity to combine their passion for flying with their desire to help people in need. VPP Pilots donate their time and flying skills to provide air transportation for patients seeking medical treatment outside their home community.

Who can become a Hope Air Pilot?

Any pilot who meets the following minimum qualifications:

1. Private pilot license and 200 hours PIC: or

2. Commercial pilot license

In addition to 30 hours on type in either case.

See our website at http://www.hopeair.org for additional information.

Are there benefits when flying a Mission as a Hope Air Volunteer Pilot?

In addition to participating in a very unique philanthropic cause, VPP Pilots enjoy the following benefits:

* fuel reimbursement at a pre-set rate
* a charitable tax receipt for your operating costs
* permission to use the Hope Air call sign which waives landing and NavCanada fees
* participation in VPP Pilot recognition events
* additional liability insurance coverage at no cost to you

So how can I start?

Registration forms may be found online at http://www.hopeair.org. For additional information, please contact Ian Campbell at the following coordinates:

Ian Campbell

Manager, Corporate and Volunteer Pilot Program

Hope Air

703 - 4711 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario M2N 6K8

Tel: 416-222-6335 ex. 222 Toll free: 1-877-346-HOPE ex. 222

icampbell@hopeair.org


Pilots wishing to register please visit:
http://hopeair.org/media/VolunteerPilot ... Locked.doc

Information on the volunteer pilot program can be viewed on the attached PDF document.

[ch135146]

(Note: original post was in 2008.)

I just read about Hope Air in one of the wife's chick magazines. Has anyone on here tried this?

[FlyGy]

Looks like there has been an update in requirements in the past couple of years.

Any pilot who meets the following minimum qualifications may apply to become a Hope Air Volunteer Pilot:

1. Valid Canadian private, commercial, or airline transport pilot license;
2. 500 hours, total time;
3. 400 hours, PIC;
4. 50 hours in make and model; and
5. 30 hours during the past 12 months

[gwengler]

I just read about Hope Air in one of the wife's chick magazines. Has anyone on here tried this?

That article was about me. What do you need to know. I have flown 97 missions for Hope Air.
Gerd

[Ecco]

Hi Gerd, do they need helicopter pilot also?

Also, on the registering form, it looks like you got to own the aircraft, is that the case?

Thx

[ch135146]

I just read about Hope Air in one of the wife's chick magazines. Has anyone on here tried this?

That article was about me. What do you need to know. I have flown 97 missions for Hope Air.
Gerd

Hi Gerd, I've read the article and worked through Hope Air's website.

I was asking to read about additional experiences from others on AvC. It looks like a fine organization and you've certainly answered the call.

Thanks for your volunteer service to Canada's health care. Steve

[gwengler]

Thanks, Steve, for your kind words.

@ ecco: No, you don't have to have your own airplane. Rental is just fine. And yes, no problem with helicopters. For single engine fixed wing planes you will get 50% of the fuel cost back in cash (that may change). For twins we have a cap in place, we would have to look at specific fuel consumption for helicopters. I'm also part of the pilot review team, where we go through applications. Why don't you just apply?

Gerd

[Ecco]

Thx Gerd, i'm getting on it this week-end.

[kamikaze]

I've had my eye on Hope Air since I first started my training ... I'm a private pilot and owner.

I can't wait to reach my 500 hour mark so I can sign up. I can't think of anything better than to do some charitable work while helping someone out.

One question : what are the usual loads required? I fly a Warrior, which will take me and an adult + 2 kids or 2 adults fairly easily. 2 adults + kid + luggage is probably too much ...

Also, what are the routes? I presume it's from smaller communities to large centers (and back). I'm in Ottawa ... I'd imagine myself going northwards for example, to bring someone to Ottawa for treatment or whatever (though I suppose I could go further, the destination could be other than Ottawa).

Finally, is being a VFR flyer OK, or does that prove to be too tough to schedule around weather and such?

[gwengler]

I've had my eye on Hope Air since I first started my training ... I'm a private pilot and owner.

I can't wait to reach my 500 hour mark so I can sign up. I can't think of anything better than to do some charitable work while helping someone out.

One question : what are the usual loads required? I fly a Warrior, which will take me and an adult + 2 kids or 2 adults fairly easily. 2 adults + kid + luggage is probably too much ...

Also, what are the routes? I presume it's from smaller communities to large centers (and back). I'm in Ottawa ... I'd imagine myself going northwards for example, to bring someone to Ottawa for treatment or whatever (though I suppose I could go further, the destination could be other than Ottawa).

Finally, is being a VFR flyer OK, or does that prove to be too tough to schedule around weather and such?

Most of the cases it's one adult or one adult and a small child. Anything more would be unusual. But of course it's totally up to you. You will see the number of passengers and their weight on the website and you can decide if you want to fly that mission.

As far as the routes go, yes, from smaller centres to bigger cities. I flew numerous missions from Kapuskasing to Ottawa, I flew from London to Ottawa, right now there is quite some demand from Earlton.

VFR is totally fine, no problem. It's always the pilot who makes all decisions. And even if you have to scrap last minute, just call Hope Air and all's good. We never second-gues a pilot's decision not to fly.

Gerd

[MrWings]

Sounds like a very valuable program.

My question is: How does TC allow this?

How is this different than a private pilot advertising sight-seeing flights for gas money?

[Chaxterium]

Is there another way to apply? I keep trying to go through the online application but the application just keeps looping back to the first page. I've tried about 4 times now.

Cheers,
Chax

[gwengler]

Sounds like a very valuable program.

My question is: How does TC allow this?

How is this different than a private pilot advertising sight-seeing flights for gas money?

Hello MrWings, Hope Air works together very closely with TC. In fact TC audits Hope Air every year. TC treats Hope Air "almost" as if it was commercial outfit. However, all flights are absolutely private. It's nothing different then you taking your friend and he pays you half of the fuel. Totally OK with TC and no secrets here.

I forgot to mention, in addition of getting 50% of the fuel money back, you can donate all operating costs (-50% of the fuel) to Hope Air in kind and you will be given a charitable receipt for this which you can deduct from income tax.

Gerd

[gwengler]

Is there another way to apply? I keep trying to go through the online application but the application just keeps looping back to the first page. I've tried about 4 times now.

Sorry about that, Chax. I just tried, put in a dummy application and it worked for me. Please give Hope Air a call, ask for Sandrine. You can tell her I told you to call. She will get you going.

Gerd

[MrWings]

However, all flights are absolutely private. It's nothing different then you taking your friend and he pays you half of the fuel. Totally OK with TC and no secrets here.

But advertising flights to strangers for 1/2 fuel cost isn't OK with TC. We've seen a couple instances on this site where Kijiji ads of this type were forcibly removed by order of TC.

OK, I think I figured out the difference.

Hope Air's passengers don't pay anything for the flight. Money reimbursed to pilots comes directly from Hope Air's donor pool. Correct?

Suppose I was able to gather donations to take poor female college students from their hometown to the larger metro centre where their schools are located. Do you think TC would allow that? I'm guessing no.

[Meatservo]

I think it sounds like an eminently worthy and honourable way to spend your time in your aircraft. If I had my own plane and Transport Canada wasted taxpayer resources trying to find a way to have a problem with it, I would continue doing it anyway until they tried to make me stop. With guns.

[ch135146]

Sent you a PM Gerd. Steve

[Chaxterium]

Sorry about that, Chax. I just tried, put in a dummy application and it worked for me. Please give Hope Air a call, ask for Sandrine. You can tell her I told you to call. She will get you going.

Gerd

Sounds good! Will do!

Couple questions for you. How often do flights come up? I live in Southern Ontario so I'm guessing most flights would be to either Ottawa or Toronto?

Also you mentioned a 50% reimbursement for fuel? So all other costs are borne by the pilot?

Cheers,
Chax

[ch135146]

I forgot to mention, in addition of getting 50% of the fuel money back, you can donate all operating costs (-50% of the fuel) to Hope Air in kind and you will be given a charitable receipt for this which you can deduct from income tax.

Gerd

[Road Trip]

Chax,

I was thinking the same thing but wasn’t going to say anything until I saw the repeated post about the tax receipt. That seemed a bit cheeky to me and you do have a reasonable question.

Hope Air is a good charity to donate to but you are right to wonder about the costs. Notice I said donate and not volunteer. Donate is a much more accurate term because you are giving more than just your time you must be committed to donating a significant amount of cash towards each flight.

I looked into this and yes basically you're on the hook for all costs except for 1/2 your fuel costs. They say you can get a tax write off for the remaining costs but if you know much about taxes you know that this doesn't necessarily mean you'll get much if any money back from the tax man.

Some people are under the impression that if you have a tax write off of $1000 you get $1000 back from the government when you file your taxes. This is not the case. In reality you would be lucky to get 30% or $300 back based on your $1000 donation. There are many factors that could cause you to get zero dollars back.

For instance if you are a starving low paid pilot like most of us you might already get most of your income tax back at the end of the year anyways. A $1000 tax write off would not get you any extra money back in that case.

So best case scenario you get around 30% back on your tax write off. For me when I did the math it came out like this.

Option one: Use my uncle’s plane. He has a found bush hawk and burns about 18 gallons an hour. Fuel in my area is very close to $2.00 / liter. My uncle figure it costs him about $150 / hr before fuel to operate his plane. I don’t know what percentage that is for engine, prop, maintenance, insurance etc. But I’ll take his word on it.

A 2 hour flight from point A to B would be $272 in fuel. Then I have to come back to point "A" another $272 = $545. Plus the cost of operating the plane $150 x 4hrs = $600. My uncle is retired and thus his income is low enough that he doesn’t pay any tax. So he can’t claim the tax write off and legally I can’t either because it’s not my plane and I didn’t pay for the expenses in the first place. Besides I make so little in the year that I get all my tax back anyways.

So total cost for the flight is $1145, of which I would get reimbursed $272 dollars and a tax receipt that I can’t use. Total out of pocket would be $873. That’s for one flight if I do only one flight a month that’s over $10,000 a year.

Option 2 rent a plane. Local school rents for $150 / hr plus HST = $168.00. The same 4 hour return flight would be $672. Fuel burn is 8 gallons / hr = $242 for fuel for the trip. Of which I get half back = $122. Again I can’t write off the additional rental expense due to my low income so I’m out that amount. Cost of flight is $550. 1 flight a month = $6600 per year. That's $6600 that goes out of my pocket never to come back.

Now even if you have the perfect financial situation and you can write off those expenses you will still only get approx 30% back so you are still paying out of pocket for the remaining 70%. So in scenario 1 your $10000 donation would get you $3000 back on your income tax and you would be out $7000 cash out of your pocket. Scenario # 2 would get you $1980 back at the end of the year and you would still be out of pocket $4620.

Please let me say again, Hope Air is a great place to donate and if you’re going flying anyways you now have a mission, a place to go, some good dead to do and some of your expenses covered. But I think it’s also important for people to know that this really is a charity that you must be prepared to donate cash as well as your time to.

I wish I had $4600+ to donate each year but I don’t so I had to pass. One day when I win the lottery or get that $250,000 a year heavy iron gig I may have the cash to spare but not today.

[Chaxterium]

Thanks Road Trip, that's some good info. Fortunately though I'm in a position where I may have to do some flying regardless so I figure if I help people out while I do it that would be great.

You reminded me of another question. Do they reimburse 50% of all the fuel burned? Or just fuel burned while carrying the patient? For example if I have to fly 1 hour to pick up the patient, and then 2 hours to the city that the hospital is in, and then another 1 hour home, am I reimbursed at 50% for all of that flying or just the 2 hours the patient was on board? As I mentioned I may be doing the flying anyway so at the end of the day it doesn't make a big difference to me. I'm more or less just curious at this point.

Cheers,
Chax

[gwengler]

Do they reimburse 50% of all the fuel burned? Or just fuel burned while carrying the patient?

The way this works is that you give to Hope Air your actual fuel burn once when you apply (not talking rental here). Then, after you finished your mission, you give to Hope Air your AIR time, i.e. take off to touch down. The air time is for ALL legs flown. In most cases a mission will have three legs, your home base to the patient, from there to the patient's destination, and back to your home base. You air time (for ALL legs incl. the empty ones) is multiplied with your stated fuel burn, an average fuel cost is being applied, and you will get 50% of that.

Please consider this (also a reply to "Road Trip"; does nobody have a real name here?!): If you fly for Hope Air your motivation is to give back to the community, to the people that live in Canada. Most Hope Air patients are flown on donated commercial flight seats for free. Hope Air's Volunteer Pilot Program fills an importnat niche, i.e. flying people from small communities to the centres. I have flown many missions from Sault Saint Marie to/from London. There is no air service available between these two places. And most importantly: If we don't fly these people, in most cases they will not get the required treatment at all. Period. Sad, but true. That's what it is all about.

It is NOT primarely about getting money back for your flying. This is not a place where you would build hours "for free". It is about donating your time and money to a charity. You either want to donate or not. If not, forget it. If you feel some obligation to donate, you do it. For me, I can combine this with my passion to fly. End of story.

I did get something good out of it, though. Flying Hope Air missions taught me a lot about flying in all kind of weather situations in Ontario. Just with flying around the patch and the occasional vacation I would have never, ever gained that experience. Even though I have an ATPL, one type rating, and 3500 hours, I have never been paid a penny.

Gerd

[Chaxterium]

Thanks for the info Gerd!

For me the amount of reimbursement really doesn't matter because as I mentioned I may have to do some flying anyway and if I can help out a few people along the way I would be thrilled to do so. The fact that I may receive any amount of reimbursement at all is simply a nice bonus. It seems to be a very noble cause and I truly hope I'll be able to help out. I was only asking out of curiosity.

Cheers,
Chax

[gwengler]

Very good Chax, that's exactly how I see it, too. Sandrine told me you called - great!
Gerd

[Chaxterium]

Yep I did. Hopefully we'll be able to work something out.

Cheers,
Troy