I lost my Dad to cancer exactly one year ago today (July 1, 2015). I never got to take him flying and he was always really excited at the idea of it. Life just sort of got in the way and I'll forever regret it. After much reflection I've decided to "take him flying" anyway by naming an aircraft after him to promote aviation (which he was a huge supporter of) and raise money for Upenn's cancer research, that was featured in Vice New's episode "Killing Cancer". I now set out with another pilot friend of mine at the end of May to break the standing flight Endurance Record of 64 days, 22 hours, and 19 minutes by flying for 100 days. We're calling it "The Hope 100". I wrote a little thing below. Details as follows:

The Hope 100 Endurance Flight looks to take something many people love - Aviation - and use it to create a meaningful positive change in two ways:

• First, to expose people outside of aviation to the wonder and romance that aviation still holds; and
• Second, I want to use the flight as a platform to raise money for the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center's Immunotherapy Research Fund.

By doing something highly visible to the public, that involves real ingenuity and human hardship, it is the belief of all the volunteers on this project that we can create real conversation, funding, and hopefully, change. Afterward we look to donate the aircraft to an aviation museum per our successful attainment of the record.

The What

The standing record for Endurance Flight is 64 days, 22 hours. The Hope 100 Endurance Flight aims to fly nonstop for 100 days, breaking the record by 35 days, 2 hours.

Stated with more detail (because people love that...) I have decided that I want to:

• Bring "aviation adventure" into the lives of non-aviators through exposure to the flight;
• Actively engage students interested in or currently pursuing an education with the field of aviation;
• To inspire all persons in all fields to aspire to innovative thinking and ideas seemingly beyond their reach; and lastly
• Raise money for something shown to help cancer patients with HOPE that one day no one will watch their parent and best friend pass away so young wanting so badly to stay.

The Who

Myself (Joe Burlas) and my good friend from flight school, Kazimierz Dyduch.

The Where

We will be flying between the Chicago area where we will be doing a lot of our public appearances and a satellite site where the aircraft can retreat to and refuel as necessary when the weather begins to move into the Chicago area. We have designated private fields and are obtaining permission from their owners to use as refueling points.

The When

Due to weather, there is a launch envelope for the flight, aimed at May 23rd to May 30th, 2017. The flight will then embark with the goal of hitting the target of 100 days aloft.

The How

Our first step is to get an airframe. I'm working with a team of A&Ps from my alma mater who will work on the airframe while we then acquire a powerplant that will be installed. After obtaining the aircraft and powerplant, we will be working on certifying it as experimental and installing all minor and major modifications (with existing STCs) to the aircraft as we seek funding for fuel and ground crew expenses.

• THE GOAL IS TO HAVE THE AIRFRAME BY OCT 1st and POWERPLANT BY NOV 1st.

The first $25,000 raised will go toward an airframe. If we are able to receive a donation on an airframe, we will then move those funds toward the powerplant. The more things that are donated, the lower the cost of the mission is and the more money I can donate to cancer research because ALL the money will either go towards activities with the flight or research.