Date: February 11, 1978
Location: Indianapolis, IN
By: —
Newspaper: The Indianapolis Star
Page: 30
“The Spirit of Indianapolis,” an aircraft that soon will fly medical and other assistance to people in jungle areas of Paraguay, will be dedicated in ceremonies at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Indianapolis International Airport.
The Cessna 185 will be operated by Wings of Hope, Inc., a St. Louis (Mo.) based non-sectarian, non-profit organization which has been providing planes, pilots and communications systems for remote and impoverished areas of the world since 1966.
The plane, which will serve as an airborne delivery truck, taxi and ambulance, was purchased and equipped through a $75,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.
Ray Wright, a veteran Wings of Hope pilot who will make the delivery flight to Paraguay and operate the plane there for awhile, will fly the aircraft to Indianapolis. The Rev. Raymond McKee, a Catholic priest who served as a field representative for Wings of Hope in Paraguay, will be with him.
Wings of Hope will be represented at the dedication by Joseph G. Fabick, president, and William D. Edwards, executive director, with Indianapolis Wings of Hope leaders Myron F. Melvin and Dr. W. Brooks Fortune.
Other participants will be Milton H. Sloasson, president of the Indianapolis Airport Authority, and Thomas H. Lake, chairman and president of Lilly Endowment.