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The faces behind World Flight 2000 are rarely seen. However, the ground-crew, engineers, photographers, mechanics, teachers and volunteers have all made this project an overwhelming success.
Here are the people that work day in and day out to connect the flight with children from around the world. From, flight planning, to accounting, to maintaining and flying the airplane, these are the Crew of World Flight 2000.
Jenni Powers, International Director/Coordinator
Jenni is 21 years old, and a a graduate of the University of Rochester with a major in Political Science specializing in International Relations and Spanish. She returned to the United States in January to join the World Flight 2000 crew after taking a hiatus in Madrid, where she danced flamenco in the streets and indulged in the Spanish culture.
Her major duties for World Flight include coordinating stops for the flight, providing logistical support, gathering info about foreign countries and assuring the security of the flight. Also, as the flight takes off in September, she will be running the one woman ground crew in Rochester. Jen is invaluable and we are proud to have her aboard, plus, as her name implies, her "super powers" come in handy with making the flight a reality. She truly is a superhero.
Her exceptional soccer skills are well respected by everyone involved with World Flight 2000, but a broken wrist has taken her off the field for 4-6 weeks. Jenni's interests include ski racing, running, biking, swimming, gardening, and learning about world cultures and languages.
Jesse Weisz, Buisness Manager/Photographer
Good friend and creative genius, Jesse helps us turn our ideas into reality. His business experience and creativity is not only the backbone of World Flight fundraising and planning, but also in expanding our vision to as many classrooms as possible. His creativity and ideas help us focus on new possibilities and more creative ways to do just about everything. Jesse Weisz graduated from the University of Rochester with an Honors Major in Film. His photography experience ranges from the Hollywood set to Adventure Tours through South East Asia. Jesse has studied film both in the United States and Australia. His photos have been featured on the front pages of newspapers, and some of his films has even been produced as travel footage around the world, including Australia.
Jesse's creativity combined with his expertise in film and photography have created pictures and film enjoyed by many as both expressive and moving. His camera of choice is the Nikon F100 and the Nikon D1. During the flight, Jesse will be documenting the adventure with a Sony TRV9000 3CCD Digital Camera. Jesse not only contributes his photography and film to the flight, but also countless hours coordinating the travel, sponsorship/marketing aspects of the voyage.
Jesse has played on the US National Junior Ultimate Frisbee Team, loves watching films, listens to Bob Dylan, enjoys authentic Thai spring rolls, and is one of the funniest guys we know.
We are glad to have Jesse as our official photographer and proud to have him aboard.
Elizabeth Ann Begy, School Coordinator
Elizabeth is a senior at the University of Rochester and coordinates hundreds of schools worldwide as they follow World Flight 2000. Beth donates hundreds of hours of her time on the phone, writing correspondence or in front of the computer coordinating school administrators, teachers and students and their link to other classrooms around the globe. Her love for education is a solid foundation for sharing the experience of learning with over 23 Million students worldwide. Beth is an amazing writer and creates the educational material you see published on this webpage and in distributional material.
"Buff" enjoys playing for the University of Rochester women's soccer team and is a big fan of country music.
World Flight differs from other round-the-world-flights because of it's educational value and outreach. Without Elizabeth, this project would not have affected the lives and dreams of educators worldwide, and many still to come.
John Bergeson, Airplane Mechanic
John came to the project in July 1999 and put his life on hold for almost six months to donate his skills and time to the flight. After volunteering in Rochester, New York, John moved to Houston, TX for several months simply to donate his time and tools to ready the airplane. His skills, work ethic and gentle humor have made the restoration possible.
He is the most dedicated and enthusiastic individual we have ever met and we shall always be thankful. John has spent much of his life working on all types off aircraft from Helicopters to the Boeing 747, and his ability to fix just about anything is truly astounding. Thanks John.
Pilot Christopher Kenneth Wall
At age 21 Chris Wall is currently a Junior at Rice University studying Electrical Engineering. While attending school full time, Chris also works as an Airplane Mechanic (A/P) at West Houston Airport (IWS). Chris has been flying for over four years and has logged time in many different airplanes from single engine trainers to the four engine B-17 Bomber.
Chris has always been a leader in education. As Coronado High-School Class President in 1997, along with being National Honor Society President, and a National Merit Scholar, Chris envisioned and created programs which spread involvement in the community and shared his enthusiasm about learning. Upon graduating, Chris co-founded GAF, Inc. with Dan to give students a better opportunity to give back to their communities.
Chris enjoys working on airplanes, flying, skiing, teaching kids about computers, fly-fishing and traveling.
Pilot Daniel Dominguez
At age 21 Dan is currently a Senior at the University of Rochester where he studies Economics. Dan also works as a flight instructor and commercial pilot at Bill Law Aviation while attending classes full time. He is fluent in Spanish, French, and English and enjoys learning about different cultures throughout the world.
Dan has been flying for over six years and has logged over a thousand hours in dozens of different aircraft throughout North America. His first passenger was Chris, and since then, the duo have been flying together as a crew.
Dan enjoys wind-surfing, skiing, working on airplanes, flying, speaking to classrooms, fishing and traveling.
During the summer of 1996, Dan and Chris made a flight from El Paso, Texas to Ketchikan Alaska in a Cessna 172 to promote environmental conservation and to education throughout the United States and Canada. The five week flight made more than 30 stops and incorporated school-kids from over 6 states!
Extreme Special Thanks
While their photos are not available, World Flight would personally like to thank the following:
John Galbraith from Twin advertising of Rochester New York, has donated hours and hours of his personal time in coordinating media and interviews from across the nation. John specializes in both marketing and advertising and his unlimited help has placed the project at the center of Media attention nationwide. John is as much as crewmember as all of us and we are honored to be working with him. Thanks John.
Will Haag of the Marine Corps for his unending support to both the pilots and the project. His leadership, ideas, discipline and determination have kept the project afloat when all seemed to be going wrong and money was not available. Enough thanks will never suffice to the help Will has given us. Thanks brother.
Helene Snihur of the University of Rochester Public Relations Office has also served as a key player in promoting the flight and raising awareness both in the community and in the media. She not only contributes her time, but her ideas and creativity have also helped shape World Flight to what it has become.
World Flight would also like to thank Ward Richardson for his continued support throughout the project. Any time of day, rain or shine, Ward contributed his personal time to making the project a reality. Thanks Ward.
The crew would also like to thank the Marianne Witgert and the Matt Steven's family of Canandaigua for their support in restoring the airplane. While most people would find paint-stripping 14 hours a day a nightmare they donated their personal time bearing awful burns to make the plane look and perform the way it does.
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