For Mick, this was his second Angel Flight, and he loves nothing more than using his flying skills and donating all the expenses for the flight in order to add to the physical and emotional well being of those in need. Previously Director of Aviation Safety for CASA, Mr. Toller retired from this position in August 2003 and now enjoys nothing more than pursuing his passion for flying and helping others.

"I found my first Angel Flight immensely satisfying," Mr. Toller said. "Actually being able to directly see the impact of what I was doing was a real thrill. It’s the direct involvement that makes the difference."

Angel Flight 1 report by Mick Toller

"The flight from Bathurst to Bankstown went smoothly in all senses of the word. We positioned the aircraft from Canberra and the possibility of fog in Bathurst did not eventuate. Cherylee and her children were waiting at the airport and after a quick chat to a local reporter and to the Rex staff in the terminal we were away. Which is where the memorable moment of the trip occurred.

Something happened to me for the first time in my flying career of 38 years. I had a near miss with a tortoise!! As we backtracked for take off I could see something on the runway and as we got closer we could see that it was a tortoise plodding across. Fortunately he had cleared the active by the time we were ready for take off and so no delay was incurred!

Jorg Dinter from Schering-Plough was waiting on our arrival having battled his way through the closed terminal and he whisked the family away while Margaret and I retired to the Flyers Cafe for a drink before tackling the last leg home.

All in all a most satisfying day and four delightful impeccably behaved passengers. I don't think Quade, the 16 month old baby, even woke for my landing. He'll go far!!"

Mick Toller

From left - Justin, Mick Toller, Rodney, Cherylee, Quade and Margaret Toller.

Angel Flight 2 report by Richard Day

"After rising quite early to get the weather I decided to put the departure time back a couple of hours because of bad weather over the mountains, it was suppose to clear by late morning.

I was to transport 7 year old Justin Webster back to Bathurst after treatment at Westmead Children’s Hospital following complications after breaking his collarbone a year ago. He was accompanied by his mother and two brothers.

Earth Angel Louise arrived at BK at 1015 with my pax and after a couple of photos and a briefing we took off into cloudy skies over Sydney headed towards the mountains. Would you believe it, the weatherman got it wrong! Instead of heading into clearing conditions we hit a solid wall of cloud right down to the ground and as high as you could see.

The classic quote of the day was, after remarking we had encountered a "Blanket" of cloud, Justin’s 11-year-old brother said, "it’s more like a "Doona".

We then headed back to Bankstown. At this stage I was thinking I was probably the first Angel Flight pilot that had to turn back.

The next day things weren’t looking much better. The forecast was for more low cloud sitting on the mountains with fog at Bathurst. I could see me driving them back to Bathurst at this stage.

After much discussion with Peter R and pilots on the ground we ascertained that the weatherman had got it wrong again, scattered CU over the mountains and no fog at BTH.

We took off at 1330 and had a very nice trip with a slight tail wind to boot. We were met at BTH by Justin’s grandmother.

It was certainly a rewarding experience for me knowing I was helping a family who have been going through a rough trot over the past 12 months."