Though trained as a professional musician, Weehawken resident Matt Minucci got hooked on flying eight years ago.
His dreams of one day being hired as a “flying trombonist” for a commercial airline were quashed by a limitation on his license (he is diabetic, so he can only fly private planes). But that hasn’t stopped Minucci from taking flight on his own.
Minucci, who works for the American Bible Society and volunteers along with his wife as a music minister at their church, also works as a part-time flight instructor.
And this August, he will be taking his skills to the skies to help with a relief mission to Haiti.
“I’m very excited to know that the results will be proportionate to my efforts.” – Matt Minucci
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Teaming up
A few years ago, Minucci began teaming up with pilot friends to fly together for both business (airplane conventions in middle America) and pleasure (a few days at the beach in the Bahamas).
On one of these trips three years ago he met Scott Ducey of Bridgewater, who recently introduced Minucci to an opportunity to help others by flying.
Stuart Hirsch, another fellow pilot, is the founder of Archangel Airborne. He invited the two men to take part in a mission to bring medical personnel and supplies to Haiti. It is a project Hirsch has been working on since 1993, over a decade before to the recent earthquake that garnered much attention.
The vision of Archangel Airborne is to combine private flights with aircraft owners and pilots donating their time to sustain the medical community in Haiti.
They have already conducted several relief trips.
Minucci and Ducey will take part in a mission from Aug. 11 through 15, flying Ducey’s Piper Twin Comanche airplane to a hospital in Les Cayes, Haiti. They will be joined by six other team members and two other planes.
Minucci said the crew will share flight responsibilities and load the plane to capacity to bring as many supplies to the needy country as possible.
Preparing for problems
“A big part of this is getting the planning lined up,” said Minucci. “We started several weeks ago talking about everything: contingencies, weather information.”
Minucci said that the United States has excellent services for pilots making the job for aviators very easy compared with flying to other countries – especially poor nations, such as Haiti.
Things like monitoring the weather during hurricane season and making sure you have the proper payment methods for fuel can be daunting tasks without the proper foresight.
He said they are preparing with the guidance provided by others in the organization that have done the mission trips before, and also by reaching out through online forums.
How others can help
Recent stories in the national news have noted cases in which a lot of money that has gone into the Haiti relief effort without a lot of results.
For Minucci, the direct effect is the most exciting part of this mission.
“I know exactly where it’s going,” he said. “I’m very excited to know that the results will be proportionate to my efforts. I know the rest of the team is excited as well that what we’re doing will have a direct impact.”
For others who would like to take part in the direct relief effort but can’t take to the skies, Minucci said there are a couple of ways to help: by making contact with hospitals or clinics that may be able to donate basic supplies (such as gauze, gloves, and antibiotics) and also by making monetary donations.
For more information, email mminucci@gmail.com or visit www.archangelairborne.com, which is scheduled to be fully functional as of next week.
Lana Rose Diaz can be reached at ldiaz@hudsonreporter.com.