Archive for Monday, November 9, 2009

Lawrence aviation company ships plane to help protect endangered animals in Kenya

The second wing of a 180-horsepower A1C Husky plane comes off at the GUT-Works, LLC, hangar at the Lawrence airport Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009. The Lawrence company is one of the sponsors helping ship the plane to Africa where it will be used by the Kenya Wildlife Service to help locate elephant poachers. Handling the wing from left are GUT-Works manager Ron Renz, mechanic Phillip Pittzer, Paul Isabell, base mechanic for LifeStar and Jonah Seibel.

Photo by Mike Yoder. Enlarge photo.

The second wing of a 180-horsepower A1C Husky plane comes off at the GUT-Works, LLC, hangar at the Lawrence airport Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009. The Lawrence company is one of the sponsors helping ship the plane to Africa where it will be used by the Kenya Wildlife Service to help locate elephant poachers. Handling the wing from left are GUT-Works manager Ron Renz, mechanic Phillip Pittzer, Paul Isabell, base mechanic for LifeStar and Jonah Seibel.

By Janet Reid

November 9, 2009

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Lawrence company aids African animals

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A Lawrence company based at Lawrence Municipal Airport is taking apart a plane and shipping it to Kenya to help in animal preservation processes. The plane will travel about 12,000 miles en route to its destination. Enlarge video

It may seem like a long way to the savannas of Africa, but a Lawrence aviation company is proving it’s closer than you might think.

Employees at GUT Works, an aviation firm based in a hangar at Lawrence Municipal Airport, are participating in a program that will help save the lives of endangered animals and protect wildlife in Kenya.

After a Wyoming pilot donated a $220,000 airplane to the Lindbergh Foundation, GUT Works raised half the costs associated with shipping the two-seater Aviat Husky A-1C 12,000 miles across the globe.

“People say, it’s an airplane, why don’t you fly it?” GUT Works Manager Ron Renz said. “Well, we’re going halfway around the world. That’s a long way, and there’s some big overwater stretches. This airplane just doesn’t have the range to do that.”

So instead of preparing for takeoff, the crew in Lawrence is taking the plane apart, piece by piece. It will be packaged in a shipping container and begin its two-month journey to a port in Mombasa, Kenya.

The plane, equipped with state-of-the-art night vision technology, is a gift to the Kenya Wildlife Service. It will be used to track wildlife and patrol for poachers on game reserves. Renowned U.S. aerobatic pilot Patty Wagstaff has been working to train the pilots with the wildlife service for the past six years, teaching them flight maneuvering skills that help them when they are tracking elephant poachers.

“What began as a simple partnership between the Lindbergh Foundation and Patty Wagstaff to support her work training the Kenya Wildlife Service pilots to safely protect wildlife from poachers, has evolved into a gift that we could never have imagined,” Lindbergh Foundation President and CEO Larry Williams said, referring to the donation of the brand-new airplane.

GUT Works is the main exporter of that particular brand of aircraft.

Renz said it typically costs about $13,000 to ship a plane of this size to Africa. He worked with his suppliers -- from the container company to the forklift provider -- to cover about $6,000 of that.

“It’s a really good opportunity because it’s helping the environment and it’s helping an underdeveloped country,” Renz said. “It allows us to showcase how general aviation helps the world. To me, airplanes are my life. It’s a great way to use that to make the world a better place to live in.”

Comments

  1. redmoonrising (anonymous) says…

    What a wonderful gift in the long term value of our planet. I don't think we often realized the importance of saving these animals.

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  2. ckennedy (christy kennedy) says…

    That's just cool. Good work, people, and thanks.

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  3. 75x55 (anonymous) says…

    So, how many of ya'll understand what they plan to do with most of these poachers, when they find them? Hope everyone donating to the 'good cause' fully understands the implication.

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  4. 75x55 (anonymous) says…

    Well, I'd assume that you'd have no problem with it, Marion - but what about all these do-gooders that may think Kenyan game preserve rangers carry old Police Positives with a single round in their shirt pocket?

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  5. OldEnuf2BYurDad (anonymous) says…

    Something to remember: more planes were downed in the Vietnam "conflict" by small arms fire than by any other means. If the poachers can spot the plane's lights, they can shoot at it, and if the poachers are "being poached" as well, they may as well shoot.

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  6. adamfast (anonymous) says…

    All of the Kenyan Wildlife Services' aircraft have been hit - but they haven't lost a pilot, yet. More information on the aircraft side of things is discussed here: http://www.aopa.org/members/files/pil...

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  7. Write2Know (anonymous) says…

    It sounds like the job this airplane is intended for would be well suited for a UAV like the predator.

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  9. Irish (Leslie Swearingen) says…

    Imagine that you are a parent with a family, and you are living in Kenya. Your family is starving with no hope for the future in sight. What do you do?
    I think we need to keep in mind that in this county we have farmers and ranchers who grow the animals that end up at the supermarket.
    In Kenya they don't have feedlots of cows and pigs. They kill and eat the animals that live in Kenya.
    As to the ivory question I would say the same thing. We don't know what we would do if we were in the same position. Those who have thousands to spend to have an eco-vacation in Africa and ignore the starving millions of humans need to be thinking about this.

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  10. toe (anonymous) says…

    I wonder if they could do a fly over of the Topeka Zoo to see if they can protect those poor animals?

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  11. Irish (Leslie Swearingen) says…

    Marion, I yield to your knowledge, of course you are quite right., I just had this image of children getting a good meal out of the meat. The harsh reality is that the poachers are not giving money to the poor around them.
    I do not want to see the animals disappear. They have a right to exist for their own sake.
    The African people have suffered so much, but the whole world is full of human suffering and animals going extinct.
    Thank you for the links and the comments. I appreciate the time you took here.
    I have learned something, perhaps something I did not wish to acknowledge.

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  12. barrypenders (anonymous) says…

    Why does the Poser's countrymen eat elephants? Are they Democrats? What a political advertis ment.

    Stimulus, evolution and Posercare lives

    Darwin bless you all

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