It's not every day that a half dozen or more pilots at the Leesburg Executive Airport take off, bound for North Carolina -- but these pilots have a special mission.
There is a growing hurricane relief effort underway in Northern Virginia. An entire hangar at the Leesburg airport has been turned into a staging area for pilots volunteering to fly supplies to the flood zones left devastated by Hurricane Helene.
Gabe Mueller is one of those pilots, flying a plane to Lincolnton loaded with supplies for hurricane victims.
"We've got it all back there, all loaded up," Mueller said. "Almost 350 pounds worth of donations there."
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The hangar at Kuhn Aviation transformed into a staging area for community donations earlier this week. Jon Rooney, operations VP, was struck by the images of the devastation on the news.
"We have hangar space, I thought we could get supplies in here," Rooney said.
So he partnered with Smokehouse Pilots Club. Notices went out on Facebook seeking pilots to volunteer for flights, and seeking donations from the community.
"It's overwhelming honestly," Rooney said. "And we knew it would start and once the ball got rolling, everyone would come in and help out, and they have. It's been phenomenal."
All day long, people roll in with carloads of essential supplies: Diapers, wipes, hygiene products, pet food.
Caroline Heffner has an employee in the Asheville, North Carolina, area who was driven from his home by floodwaters.
"He's staying with his parents, but now they are struggling to find food," Heffner said. "So I felt I should donate a little something toward the effort."
Lisa Jett, a county worker, brought donations in from her office.
"We collected up some dog food and that, and I brought it over," Jett said.
The pilots are now stepping up to make sure supplies get where they are needed.
"They're local pilots that have decided to give their time and resources to the effort, and in a lot of cases it's costing them $300 to $1,000 round trip," said Johnathan Loveless, chief pilot for Kuhn Aviation. "So it's quite the lift they are doing."
Once supplies hit the hangar, they are sorted and grouped into 50 pound stacks so pilots can eyeball how much weight they can safely carry. That's anywhere from 300 to 1500 pounds, depending on the size of the plane.
"What we're going to do, we're going to drop our supplies here and it's going to go right into a helicopter and they are going to take it into the area," said Mueller.
The Kuhn team at the hangar is partnering with charities in the flood zone -- which sometimes make very specific requests.
"20 minutes later, it was on the way to that location, like an on-demand airlift," said Loveless. "We're like the humanitarian delivery service right now."
Mueller, for example, will have some cargo on his return trip: He's flying Luna, a black-and-white spotted dog, to an animal rescue group in Maryland.
And everyone that volunteers, donates or flies hopes that their help makes a difference.
"This is a perfect example of the community coming together for a great cause," said Mueller.
The hangar at Leesburg Airport is open for donations from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and for now plans to accept donations through noon on Sunday, Oct. 6.
