First Officer Jeffrey Skiles and Captain Chesley Sullenberger receive specially designed approach charts and engraved Jeppesen chart binders during the 2010 Gathering of Eagles fundraiser dinner. Photo by Steve Cukierski

September 9, 2010 — Jeppesen, known in the aviation industry as the worldwide leader in navigation and charting services, recently presented Miracle on the Hudson pilots Captain Chesley Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles with a specially designed approach chart and engraved Jeppesen chart binders to commemorate the remarkable ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009. The items were presented by Mark Van Tine, Jeppesen president and CEO, during the 2010 Gathering of Eagles fundraiser dinner and auction held during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

Entitled Hudson Miracle APCH, the one-of-a-kind chart includes several lighthearted notations that honor the famous water landing that saved the lives of 155 passengers and crew on board the flight disabled by bird strikes. In the “briefing strip” section of the chart, instructions include: “After water landing, oversee evacuation of ALL SOULS from airplane. Float via HUDSON RIVER to RESCUE point. Once everyone is SAFE aboard rescue boats, secure passenger list and double check cabin. Captain is last to exit. Give THANKS.”

The chart documents the historic five-minute flight with a unique graphic, beginning with departure from LaGuardia Airport, followed by a “Cooked Goose Transition” point and “Hudson River Approach,” which is then followed by “Splash” and “Rescue” points on the water. The humorous chart also salutes the career achievements of the crew of Flight 1549, including Sullenberger, Skiles, and veteran flight attendants Sheila Dail, Donna Dent, and Doreen Welsh.

The pilots were presented with a special Jeppesen chart binder, engraved with the famous fortune cookie advice kept in Sullenberger’s flight bag: “A delay is better than a disaster.”

sullyskilesterpchart

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Dec 12 2009

Sectional Chart on His Leg

Published by hplane under Aeronautical Charts

AOPA Pilot Magazine

December 2009 Volume 52 / Number 12

Pilots: Dan Sorkin
By Ron Wren

CFII Dan Sorkin has a leg up on most pilots—a plastic prosthetic leg with a San Francisco Sectional laminated into it. “If I ever get lost,” jokes Sorkin, “I’ll just take my leg off and read it.”

Sorkin’s flying career began with two legs and an unreasonable fear of heights. So at age 18 he enrolled at Sally’s Flying School at Palwaukee Airport in Wheeling, Illinois. On his first lesson a very young and inexperienced instructor tried to give him the full cure: loops and power-off stalls. In a panic, “I cut the magnetos and we landed in a cow pasture. He was fired, but I was cured,” says Sorkin.

One of Sorkin’s first jobs was delivering medications from his father’s drug store in Chicago to Hugh Downs of the Dave Garroway Show. That exposure to show biz started Sorkin on a career in radio in 1946. One day at WCFL in Chicago, a friend brought him an audiocassette of a “funny CPA,” who turned out to be comedian Bob Newhart. With Sorkin’s help Newhart got a contract with Warner Bros. records and Sorkin got the job of announcer on the Bob Newhart TV show. When Producer Mike Todd’s Around the World in 80 Days came to Chicago, Sorkin told his radio boss, “Send me around the world in 40 days. I’ll tape my show from the air—and the station will get the film’s entire ad budget.” Sorkin flew a new Piper Apache, and 40 days and 25,000-plus miles later he and his co-pilot returned to Chicago. The most memorable sight of his trip? “I don’t know, “ says Sorkin. “It was IFR most of the way.”

In 1968 while at KSFO in San Francisco, Sorkin rounded a country corner on his motorcycle at 100 mph, leaving a mangled bike at roadside and an equally mangled left leg. After six months of trying to save the leg, he told his doctors, “Saw it off.”

“It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he says. “It taught me to look at problems as opportunities, and it was the event that helped me form Stumps ’R Us, a self-help group for cheerful cripples.” Sorkin is Chief Stump. As a flight instructor he offers the first hour of instruction free to any new Stumps member. “The change in their attitude after flying is always dramatic and positive. And they can’t help but smile when they see my sectional.”

To make a tax-deductible contribution to Stumps ’R Us: 2109 Skycrested Drive #1, Walnut Creek, California 94595-1828.

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Sep 04 2009