On a perfect day for flying, New Orleans lawyer Larry Lehmann still felt the thrill, even after 26-years. Larry is a volunteer for Pilots for Patients, using his aircraft to transport people with non-emergency medical conditions to doctors and hospitals in other cities or states.

"It's a passion, and it has changed my life, and especially when I can use my flying to make a difference in other people's lives," said Lehmann.

In Baton Rouge, Larry met another aircraft, piloted by Monte Warne of Tennessee, who helped to ferry the Ronquille family back from a hospital in St. Louis. It was Monte's first medical mission.

"The weather was great, and we sat there and listened to the stereo all the way down here,” said Warne.

This was the 158th mission since Louisiana-based Pilots for Patients began flying in January. Kim and David Ronquille of Marrero brought their two-year-old daughter Madison, who has cerebral palsy, to see specialists.

"The doctor we seen actually had cerebral palsy, so she knew a little bit more about it, and they specialize in cerebral palsy at the hospital,” said David Ronquille.

When they needed help to get to the hospital in St. Louis, Pilots for Patients stepped in to make the round trip happen at no cost to the patient's family, and in one day of examinations, the doctors astounded the Ronquilles with ideas for treatments for a child they say was once diagnosed as blind.

"Been on the waiting list to get the appointment for a year , and she's no longer taking new patients, I think since June or July, so if we would have missed it, she wouldn't have been able to see her,” said Kim Ronquille.

In the short flight home through sunny skies, the Ronquilles had time to envision the changes they hope to see in Madison's life.

"One doctor says they can have her up on her feet, I don't know, in maybe a year or two, so if she can walk, and actually take care of herself, that's what I want,” said David Kim Ronquille.

Pilots for Patients has 44 member pilots across the state of Louisiana, but only four in New Orleans, so right now they are looking to recruit more pilots to fly medical missions like this one.

"We're talking about good pilots with big hearts, a minimum of 250 hours of flight time, and preferably instrument rated, but not necessarily instrument rated, but these guys are sio important to complete the mission,” said Philip Thomas, Pilots For Patients president.

For Larry Lehmann, it was the combination of two passions, his love of flying, and his desire to make a difference in the lives of his neighbors in Louisiana.

"And for every one of these missions that I do, I know, or I really feel in my heart,” said Lehmann, “that I am making the world a little bit better."