Chief Pilot Gary Dyson Wins Endeavor Award

Thanks to the response of the Orbis and FedEx communities Captain Gary secured the highest number of votes, giving him the honour of taking home this well-deserved award.

We'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who voted for him - this award is so well deserved after committing 18 years of his life to helping fight avoidable blindness.

We couldn't think of anyone more deserving.

Every year the Endeavor Awards - run by Angel Flight West - raise awareness of public benefit aviation and celebrate the amazing work of volunteer pilots. One honoree is chosen by the Endeavor Awards Selection Committee, and the second honoree is chosen through online voting by the general public.

A generous donation of $15,000 is given to the non-profit the winning pilot represents. $15,000 will now be donated to help end avoidable blindness.

Captain Gary has been an invaluable part of the Orbis family since 2001. He became our Chief Pilot in 2013 taking our Flying Eye Hospital on an incredible 36 sight-saving missions in 18 years.

He also trains, plans and assigns crew for all Flying Eye Hospital projects.

Gary originally became involved when we requested operational and training assistance from FedEx for our crew of volunteer pilots who flew, the then, DC-10 Flying Eye Hospital.

He soon volunteered and enlisted other FedEx pilots to help develop, train and improve the operational capabilities of the DC-10.

This isn’t the first time Gary has won a prestigious award. In 2003 Captain Gary received the Humanitarian Award from FedEx for his work training and supporting fellow pilots on board the Fling Eye Hospital.

We’d like to say another huge congratulations to Gary for this award and his incredible contribution to the fight against avoidable blindness.

And another big thank you to those who gave up their valuable time to vote for Captain Gary. He couldn’t have done it without you!