Fly for MS

Please do not forget to support our mission by donating at flyms.org/donateforms.html

Reykjavik, November 1st, 2010

In Iceland we wanted to do the media event we could not do during our first stop, when we arrived late at night delayed by weather. We flew again with Berglind Guðmundsdóttir, the CEO of the Icelandic MS Society, and Daníel Kjartan Ármannsson, a young MSer, who this time got to actually fly our plane a little bit.

During our first stop in early September the weather was quite bad, rainy and cloudy. This time around it was quite cold but the sky was much clearer, allowing Berglind, Daniel, the TV crew, and us to take in some very spectacular views. Enjoy them like we did!

Please do not forget to support our mission: every 5 or 10 Euros or dollars will help us finish what we set out to do. Donate at flyms.org/donateforms.html
By popular demand, you can now buy Fly for MS T-shirts here.

London, October 30th

Our visit to London was full of surprises, not always pleasant, but in the end successful.

First, while we were about to land in London we were informed that we have been tagged as potential terrorists! Therefore, we were denied permission to land in Elstree, our intended destination, were Peer Baneke, the CEO of the MS International Federation was waiting for us. So, we started flying to a different airport, on the other side of the city. Halfway there, we were told we actually got the permission, and returned to Elstree, and landed.

What happened exactly? As we got out of the plane, we met Peer, who solved the mystery. Because we stopped for re-fueling in Jersey, and because Elstree is a small airport, unmanned after sun-set, our route seemed suspect. Only after Peer insisted to speak with the Special Service and explained why we are actually flying we were granted permission to land. But we still had to wait in the plane for the Special Service agent to check us out.

The following day, another surprise! Because of miscommunication with the UK MS Society, partially cased by the departure of our contact there, no events had been planed. Our last minute efforts to put something together over the weekend of October 23-24th were futile. The party was a success, and Keith looked really good as a doorman!

So, we focused on the Fly for MS party we had planned for Sunday October 24th at London’s exclusive Boujis night club, were we wanted to do what we had successfully done in New York: introduce our friends and their friends to our mission and MS.

On Monday, we started planning a media event in London after our visit to Ireland. Nigel Harris, our English-native friend started to work his Rolodex, and involved Henry Gewanter, the media maverick who broke the news on the MP expenses scandal.

But since time was very precious for us, during the days we planned our London return we took politicians up for a flight and talked to them about MS and some of the difficulties faced by people with MS in the UK.

With Nigel’s determination and Henry’s advice we managed to bring MS to the evening TV news in just 3 days. Media people really like to come and fly in our little plane! This was the 25th TV crew flying with us.

Now some photos from our flights above London … truly spectacular views!

London by night

London by day

Please do not forget to support our mission: every 5 or 10 Euros or dollars will help us finish what we set out to do. Donate at flyms.org/donateforms.html
By popular demand, you can now buy Fly for MS T-shirts here.

Dublin, October 28th 2010

In Ireland we were very happy to be able to help the Irish MS Society get MS on the evening news, something they said they had not been able to do before.

After our events with the media and the Irish MS Society we were pleasantly surprised to see that the hotel reserved for us was in fact a historic building: the first brewery of Arthur Guinness, leased in 1756, 3 years before Arthur moved to the more famous Guinness brewery in nearby Dublin.

Please do not forget to support our mission: every 5 or 10 Euros or dollars will help us finish what we set out to do. Donate at flyms.org/donateforms.html
By popular demand, you can now buy Fly for MS T-shirts here.

Lisbon, October 22th 2010

Our stop in Portugal has been another example of how MS organizations use our mission to further awareness in their country. In Portugal we have done everything we set out to do: we flew for treatment two ladies with MS from a remote mountain city to Lisbon, we had media events, and engaged a local celebrity who supports MS.

The Portuguese MS Society (SPEM), and Luisa Matias in particular, have been able to organize a great event. And we would also like to thank to the Portuguese Airforce for hosting our plane, to the Lisboa International Airport for waiving the landing fees, and to Cepsa Portugal for donating 1,000 liters of AvGAS.

On our first day in Lisbon we visited the MS center where we were greeted by lots of smiley faces.

The following day we flew to Covilha, a small mountain city, to pick up two ladies with MS and fly them back to Lisbon for treatment. We took along a TV crew and once in Covilha we were met by another. To show how the fight against MS should bring people together, I asked the two cameramen to shake hands and forget for a minute they are working for competing channels.

Upon our return to Lisbon about 20 people with MS were waiting for us, all wearing SPEM’s t-shirt, along with lots of journalists.

We then went to lunch with people with MS, were we received paintings done by some of them and other gifts.

Later we returned to the airport for a photo shoot with Ana Moura, a famous fado singer.

Upon departure we were greeted by the commander of the military airport, and then we set off for England.

Some sights from Portugal