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sourcing fabric and sewing thousands of cloth face masks for its employees and health professionals. Although not medical grade, these masks can be laundered and reused, and will free up the more effective N95 respirators and surgi- cal masks for the medical professionals and first responders who need them most.” Additional aviation companies donating time and re- sources include Boeing, Gulfstream, Daher Aircraft, Pip- istrel, AvFuel and Tamarack Aerospace (and I am surely missing others). I also spoke to Appareo Systems, the makers of Stratus aviation products. Though a smaller sized tech company, the team currently has more than 30 people dedicated to the manufacturing of emergency ventilators for its home state of North Dakota. Operating three shifts seven days a week, the company built more than 1,000 emergency ventilators in the first 10 days of production. “We have received amazing support from our supplier network – seeing unreal turn times to deliver products,” said April Steffan, a spokesperson for Appareo. “For example, one supplier drove 22 hours from North Carolina to North Dakota to deliver 3,000 clamps. We have also seen our own employees going above and beyond. One employee flew his personal aircraft to pick up some essential parts in Minnesota.” Charitable aviation organizations such as Angel Flight and NBAA’s HERO program have also pivoted normal operations to accommodate the delivery of critical supplies. One of our readers, Kirk Walters, reached out to me with his own story. “Just recently we were called into service by the Governor of Vermont under the Angel Flight Northeast umbrella to ad- dress a very pressing need in the fight against the COVID-19 crisis,” said Walters. “To bridge a testing analysis gap, we organized and flew a daily shuttle from Burlington (KBTV) to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester (KRST) for 11 consecutive days. Seven of these flights were done in our Conquest 441 and the balance were flown in a Lear 60.” Kirk and fellow pilots Martti Matheson and Damien Henry ultimately flew 21,400 miles over 22 legs and transported more than 5,000 COVID-19 tests. And let us not forget the associations that continue to vie for and protect the general aviation industry in Washington, D.C. We had the privilege of interviewing AOPA President Mark Baker for this month’s Five on the Fly. He offers valu- able insight into the current happenings and effects of the virus on the aviation industry. I hope the above demonstrates how many encouraging examples of hope and compassion can be found across our communities. We all need stories of positivity, and once again, our incredible industry is up for the task. Stay well. Malibu Aerospace Factory Direct Models May 2020 / TWIN & TURBINE • 3