PUC Aviation Program Acquires Donated Glider

Throughout the year, the Pacific Union College aviation program has received many provisions from God, including acquiring Charlie, their Cessna 206 missionary plane, and adding several talented instructors to their team. Recently, a glider was generously donated to the PUC aviation program. Flight Center Director Nathan Tasker has been working diligently on plans for a glider program on campus, so this was nothing short of an answer to prayer for Tasker and his team.

Several months ago, Tasker met with a fellow Adventist glider pilot who had been working on his glider instructor certificate and had recently acquired it. This milestone encouraged Tasker and the instructor to schedule a meeting for July 6 to plan next steps. Among those steps was the acquisition of gliders. They met at 12 p.m. as planned, and, just 30 minutes into their meeting, the daily mail arrived. In it was an unsolicited letter from someone named Joanne Lessard. In the letter, Lessard explained that her husband, George Lessard, a 1963 PUC alumnus and a passionate glider pilot, had passed away this past January. After reading the recent article circulating on the PUC website and in ViewPoint publications about “Charlie,” she inquired whether PUC could use his glider, a Schweizer 1-26A. PUC Aviation Program Office Manager Janel Tasker took the letter and the enclosed photos to show the gentlemen, saying, “It seemed like quite amazing timing for this letter to come.” The postmark was several days earlier.

Over the course of the next few days, the Taskers worked out the details with Lessard and picked up the glider from Redlands, CA, where Lessard and several of her late husband’s friends were present to bid the well-loved glider farewell as it journeyed off to its new home. Before the Taskers towed the glider home, they prayed with everyone and for the glider to serve for God’s glory while at PUC. The new addition to the fleet is now housed in PUC’s hangar, in preparation for what Tasker believes is a strategic move forward. Stay tuned as plans are finalized for what God has in store for this glider and for the aviation program.