While flying is not Rex Booth's profession, he confesses to being an aviation tragic. Rex has his own single-engine plane housed near his home at Riddell's Creek. Not only does he use it to take family and friends on joy rides, he also volunteers his services through Angel Flight Australia (AFA) to fly people from remote and long-distance locations to the city, mainly for them to attend important medical appointments.
AFA was established in Queensland in 2003 and is based on a similar service in the US. They saw a need for this type of service because people in the outback have little or no access to specialists nearby. Unlike Air Ambulance or the Royal Flying Doctor Service, AFA mainly carries passengers who have a medical problem but who don't require special medical attention while in transit.
Rex is one of 3000 pilots in Australia who volunteer their time and their aircraft to ferry people from their home town to the main cities and back. One key benefit of this form of transport is the reduced travel time. Rex transports patients from Mildura to Melbourne in 1 1/2 hours. A road trip takes about 7-8 hours. Flying also results in less anxiety for the person and their driver if they were required to travel by car. All flights are free. Funds are raised through generous donations from the public. 85% of the funds are used to cover fuel costs and the other 15% pays for the wages of 7 full-time staff.
Rex is passionate about this service because he can see the expressions of joy and relief on the faces of his travellers.
In addition to the flying service, Rex explained that their are 3000 volunteer car drivers who taxi people from one point to another at no charge. This is usually for shorter trips.
Click here to get a feel-good understanding of the great service that Angle Flight provides.