John Bone could continue to enjoy life in a small house in Apalachicola, Florida, a town of 2,000, and everyone would understand. Enjoy the sun and one of the most beautiful beaches on the Gulf of Mexico, take a few flying lessons every now and then – in a word, do what anyone else does in a well-deserved rest. But John Bone is no ordinary man. The 71-year-old American has flown around the world twice in his beloved Cirrus SR22 light aircraft.

So he does what he probably should have done when he heard about the Air Rescue Ukraine initiative in distant Germany. After all, who could have done a better job of delivering humanitarian supplies in windy and bad weather to Polish Mielec, 60 kilometers from the Ukrainian border? “So I got on a plane, first to Canada, then to Greenland, from there to Iceland and Scotland. Five days later, I was in Germany and I signed up as a volunteer for two months, for July and August,” says Bone of his trip to Germany was child’s play, perhaps because he spent most of his life above the clouds. He entered the cockpit as a teenager, worked for 36 years as a pilot for Delta Airlines, and by the end of his career could fly the usual Atlanta-Frankfurt route, as they say, with his eyes closed.

“I think it’s important to do everything possible, whatever resources you have, to help Ukraine. In my case, it was a plane, so I took it with me,” smiles Bone.

friendship with refugees

In his Cirrus, Bone has transported hundreds of backpacks with first-aid kits to Poland, taking refugees back to Germany. With each of them, the American keeps in touch via Facebook – now he has almost as many Ukrainian friends as he does from his home country, he says with a laugh: “Everyone you brought to Germany is eternally grateful to you. Today I’m flying back with Ukrainian hero’s war, who needs to be hospitalized in Germany. It’s an important experience when you feel like you can make a difference. And we’re definitely changing things for the better.”

how ideas are born

Because John Bone could make a difference, he should be grateful to Kay Wolf. Or to put it another way, the American pilot would still be teaching in Apalachicola today if the 52-year-old information technology specialist and his friend Stefan Sauling hadn’t come up with a rather bold idea shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine.

Kay Wolf – creator and main engine of the Ukrainian air rescue

“We talked about what we do best,” says Wolff. “Organization of the process, as we have 30 years of professional experience in production. Second, information technology for the organization. And third, the ability to fly. Stefan is a pilot and I’ve been flying for 15 years. We thought that if five or ten crazies from our circle of friends joined us, we could already achieve something.

Pilots from around the world

Today, the original handful of lunatics has grown to 313 registered pilots, some of whom fly to Ukraine at their own expense. Among them are former pilots and professional civil and military engineers. And, of course, eccentric people like Bone. Pilots from Kenya, Ecuador and Canada joined the initiative. So far, Air Rescue Ukraine has made 69 flights to Milets from Hangelar near Bonn, Augsburg and Mainz. More than 17 tons of cargo were transported, including cancer drugs, first aid kits and hemodialysis equipment, which were urgently delivered to Ukraine, mainly from the Blue-Yellow Cross warehouse in Cologne.

“The other day we got a call and were told that a very special and rare drug was needed at the Ukraine-Moldova border because an injured Ukrainian had developed antibiotic resistance. We booked a flight from Dublin and the patient received his first injection the same night,” he said. Wolf remembers.

Packs for Bushing

Air Rescue Ukraine also provided assistance in Bucha, a site that gained worldwide notoriety for atrocities committed there by Russian soldiers. Together with the criminal police of Colonia and Cruz Azul e Amarela, during the night operation, dozens of special kits were delivered to document the rape. Also in the luggage: contraceptives and 200 kilos of special body bags.

Vika volunteer at the Blue-Yellow Cross warehouse in Cologne

At the moment, the organization has evacuated 57 people who need help. Ukraine’s air rescue focuses on the injured, in need of surgery, wheelchair users or unaccompanied children. But the airlift to Ukraine can only work if Wolf and his team keep the control wires in their hands, functioning as a sort of control tower for the pilots.

When will the war end

The evening of a typical day is the last briefing before the two scheduled flights. For tomorrow, according to the weather forecast, a bad weather front passes through Poland. Experienced pilots can fly around in a storm, but it takes time, and an airfield in Germany won’t be open forever. Short-term flight cancellation? But then you will need to quickly book a hotel suitable for refugees who are eager to leave. It has become routine for Kay Wolf, who is patient enough to sift through all the possibilities on her laptop while talking to pilots on the phone.

“Fifty-fifty,” Wolf answers the question about what he spends more time on: his own IT company or Air Rescue Ukraine. And that is unlikely to change in the near future. “When will this end? When will the donations end. Or we will be crushed. Or, best of all, when the war is over,” says Wolf, who has been to Ukraine several times and has many friends there.