Does anyone know of an organization involved in what is generally referred to as “Mission Aviation” that is NOT driven by religious motives? Maybe that is a contradiction in terms; Non-religious humanitarian aviation would better describe it.
It seems that most outfits that use aircraft in so-called humanitarian efforts in remote places have religious conversion as their prime motive. Some even require pilots not only to meet certain professional standards, but have a minimum number of bible school hours! Now, I do not want to turn this into a pro- or anti-religion debate and flame war, but the ultimate goal of most of the organizations is to convert people to their particular brand of christianity. They will deny this of course, but it is a fact.
I have often considered volunteering my services as a pilot to do some work that will actually help out a bunch of people that really need and deserve it – flying with a purpose can be even more rewarding than just punching holes in the sky for the sheer fun of it – but I will not get involved with the typical kind of outfit mentioned above.
Has anyone had any experience with this type of flying?
By: J Boyle - 13th January 2010 at 22:18
If you do research, I think you’ll find a lot of “Mission” aviation is devoted to transporting NGO officials for work ranging from medical missions to wildlife conservation and environmental efforts.
Why?
I’d guess in many, many places, missions provide the only on demand air service.
I have some acquaintances in the Mission Aviation field, and from what I understand, it’s not quite as religiously dogmatic as you seem to believe.
I’ve been told that many try to win friends by doing good works, in other words setting an example, as opposed to “Dropping Bibles”…the “hard sell” you seem to think they all adhere to.
There are MANY mission aviation groups, and each probably has a different approach to their work. As with most things, it would probably be wise not to make too many generalizations about the group as a whole.
By: Newforest - 13th January 2010 at 22:18
I would think that the Orbis International DC-10 ‘Flying Eye Hospital’ would be the prime example of your ‘non-mission’ category if I read your parameters correctly.:)
By: Moggy C - 13th January 2010 at 22:00
Why not start by contacting the British Humanist Association?
Moggy
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January 13, 2010 at 8:39 pm