Embry-Riddle Flies Dream to Child


Carl Jessop's 6-year-old body may be confined his home because of a heart defect, but his mind and spirits are soaring with eagles today.

That's because Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northern Arizona, and Boeing made Carl's wish to learn more about aircraft come true.

Eric Lund and Carl JessopCarl, who lives with his family in Colorado City, Ariz., 175 miles north of Prescott, is fascinated by the aircraft passing overhead in the Los Angeles-Las Vegas flyway. In fact, his mother said that planes are his lifeline to the outside world.

Doctors who performed two heart operations on Carl referred him to Make-A-Wish, whose purpose is to fulfill the wish of any child who has a life-threatening illness. Carl uses oxygen daily and spends lots of time resting in his room.

So when Eric Lund and nine other students from Embry-Riddle's Prescott, Ariz., campus chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) heard about his wish, they worked through the fall making aircraft models and posters to decorate his bedroom.

One morning last December, they stowed the models, posters, and an aircraft traffic scanner aboard a Cessna 182, piloted by Embry-Riddle Chief Flight Instructor Sean Jeralds, and took off for Carl's hometown. Dave McMaster, associate professor of aerospace engineering and AIAA club advisor, accompanied the students.

When they arrived in Colorado City, Carl was already on board a state-of-the-art MD-900 Explorer helicopter Boeing flew in for the occasion. Pilot Dave Bauer let Carl help guide the $3.25 million aircraft over the boy's school, relatives' homes, his house, and the nearby red-tinged cliffs. Bauer said Carl did well and called him "a real good stick," a compliment to any pilot.

Carrying his portable air supply, Carl happily welcomed the Embry Riddle students and staff.

Lund, assisted by McMaster and Jeralds, transformed his bedroom into a plane-lover's heaven. They hung posters, set up airplane models, and hooked up the scanner, antennae, headphones, and speakers to enable Carl to pick up air traffic over his home.

The effect was, in Carl's words, "awesome, awesome."

"He was floating all day," a cousin said Thursday, "and a little tired today because he was up half the night trying all the different frequencies on his scanner. We want everyone to know how appreciative we are. It's really made a difference for Carl."

The aerospace engineering students who helped are Lund, Mike Allen, Lionel Camaral, Walter Crowe, Bill Galant, Kristi Kleinhesselink, Bryan Munsch, Lee Raubolt, Kathy Reed, and Paul Ruckel. Faculty and staff who assisted are Dean Lonius, Dan Carrell, McMaster, and Jeralds.

By Louise Korniarski
Photo by Tom Hood
Used with permission of the Prescott Daily Courier