Scott Gloyna's fascination with aviation started when he was a child. He grew up in the country in Texas and his closest neighbor was a crop duster pilot. Young Scott would ride his bicycle to the end of the neighbor's dirt runway and spend hours watching the plane take off, fly around and land.
Scott first heard about Angel Flight at a fly-in he attended at his local airport. After learning about Angel Flight's mission, he really wanted to give back. He had lost his father to a medical issue years before, and decided this would be great opportunity to use his skills as a pilot to help people in need of medical care. Shortly thereafter, the need for flying people to medical treatment hit close to home for Scott. His niece had a rare type of brain cancer and needed to go to St. Jude's for treatment. Her parents didn't have the money to bring her there, so Scott offered to fly her. He saw firsthand the importance of free flights for medical travel and signed up for Angel Flight. He has never looked back. An Air Force veteran, Scott also volunteers his time flying prospective cadets. "I occasionally take cadets on work trips so they can get a little exposure to flying before they go to pilot training." One of these cadets is Doug Guberman, who is a commissioned second lieutenant and is waiting to go into the Air Force. Doug currently works as a staff member for the Honors College at Texas Tech's Engineering Department, which has been creating 3D printed medical equipment during the pandemic. After making face shields, intubation chambers and more, Texas Tech needed to get these items to medical facilities in rural parts of Texas. Doug thought of Scott and his missions with Angel Flight. Scott jumped at the chance to help and made the first trip with medical supplies to Monahans' Ward County Memorial Hospital. Scott has made 7-8 more flights of this nature to places including Abilene and Wichita Falls. He enjoys helping the medical staff stay safe while they save lives and provide vital medical care. "When you have a patient on board, you are very concerned with their comfort, their safety," Scott said. "I always try to find the smoothest air I can and try to land as easy as I can." Hauling cargo is different. Pilots don’t have to check for turbulence or thunderstorms or other things that might make passengers uncomfortable since many of them have never flown in a smaller plane or may have never flown at all. "But when we are flying medical supplies, I can fly up as high as I need [to get above weather] and put on oxygen." Scott flies both cargo and passengers in his Cirrus 22 turbo. "I have a great time doing this. You get to meet a lot of people in a rough spot. You can brighten their day and lighten their load just a little bit. It makes my day better. I've been really blessed and lucky. I can take an airplane that I enjoy and use it to give back and bless somebody else. That's what it's all about. That's my goal and my purpose; to help other people. I've been blessed - very richly blessed." And so is Angel Flight.