Tomorrow sees another Flying With Diabetes Day 2013, this time at Duxford Imperial War Museum (just off the M11 towards Cambridge). The days are organised by a small but highly dedicated group of pilots with diabetes who are striving to show that with good control of their condition they are perfectly safe to fly.
There will be speakers as part of this inspirational and educational day, including Kyle Rose, former Team Type 1 professional cyclist and a JDRF-supported medical researcher (working on preventing immune system from attacking islet cells). Sanofi and Dexcom are sponsoring and a number of companies will be exhibiting along with JDRF and INPUT.
One of the main organisers is ex-RAF pilot Douglas Cairns, a Type 1 diabetic who says, “We’ve had a busy year, spreading further awareness with Flying With Diabetes projects and www.pilotswithdiabetes.com efforts. It’s going to be a never-ending process and I bet I’ll still be doing flying projects in my 70s, as it will take a long time for many countries to adopt more flexible policy along the lines introduced last year for commercial and private flying here in the UK. It’s a good excuse to continue!”
Most recently, Douglas and two other pilots with diabetes each flew an aircraft from Beverley (Hull) to Le Touquet, setting a speed record. He says, “It was our very first international project spanning two countries where we could fly solo, or pilot in command, enabled by the UK’s CAA policy. We have a few more projects lined up next year into Europe. Exciting stuff!”
If you’re interested in finding out more about their undertakings, and for a very fun day out, click here.