The air was electric at Indianapolis Executive Airport on Saturday, January 23, when Jet Linx Indy and Flight1 hosted a family movie night. The private jet hangar was filled with families enjoying children’s crafts and a big-screen viewing of Disney’s “Planes 2: Fire and Rescue.”

Flight1 is an Indianapolis-based program open to children who face health challenges or those who have lost an immediate family member. The three-year program encourages a sense of confidence through the power of flight: participants learn about aviation, practice flying in full-motion simulators and then learn to pilot a plane by themselves. The program also includes events like the movie night at Indy Exec.

“I really enjoyed seeing the kids’ (and parents’) reaction to how full the hangar was with people. Everyone was excited to be there and thoroughly enjoyed watching the movie as well as being able to see a few jets that were parked on the ramp and in the hangar,” said Brent Claymon, Jet Linx Indianapolis Base Partner (pictured at right, with his daughters at the event). Families brought chairs and blankets to sit among the jets and view the movie.

The connection between Jet Linx and Flight1 is deep: Casey Blake, Jet Linx Indianapolis Base President, and Hunter Musselman, Director of Jet Card Sales, volunteer on the Flight1 board. “I first found out about Flight1 when a contact of mine at another nonprofit asked me if I would talk to Flight1’s founder,” said Casey Blake, Jet Linx Indy Base President. “We sat down and discussed his vision relative to Flight1; why he started the organization, and he asked me if I’d be willing to spend some time with him to help develop the program.”

Musselman learned of the group through Blake before his tenure at Jet Linx began. “I was a sophomore or junior at Purdue and involved with the Purdue University Chapter of American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE). Casey emailed me asking for Flight1 volunteers for an airshow here in town. One thing led to another, Purdue and AAAE got involved with Flight1 and the rest is history.”

“Flight1 is a great resource for the community and I think it allows children who face real struggle to get exposure to aviation – and what kid doesn’t like airplanes? Flight1’s mission is to build confidence in children of all ages and I think that aviation is a great tool to get the focus off their day-to-day issues,” Blake said.

Claymon cited the benefits to Flight1 as his motivation to support the event. “Helping create awareness for an organization like Flight1 thru a fun and ‘easy to attend’ event is so important and valuable,” he explained. “Jet Linx’s sponsorship of the event not only allowed for it to happen, but is instrumental in propelling Flight1 to reach hundreds of new people, hopefully gaining supporters and community awareness.

“The best part of the event was knowing that people came from all walks of life, not necessarily knowing anything about Flight1, but through social media and other methods, found themselves compelled to attend the event,” Claymon said.