Long Beach Airport dispatcher Philip Stokes, 29, poses in front of a single-engine plane before flying over the city. Photos by Medina Kabir.
On a recent clear April day, 29-year-old Philip Stokes looked over the aircraft’s dashboard one last time, making sure everything was good to go before bringing the fixed wing single-engine he rented from the Long Beach Airport to life. As the propeller accelerated, blasting gusts of wind into the small window of the plane, Stokes excitedly prepared himself on the runway, where he would eventually take off and fly over the city with just one arm.
However, maneuvering an aircraft easily through the skies of Southern California wasn’t something Stokes thought he would ever get to do without the use of two hands.
In 2006, at the age of 17, Stokes was riding his motorcycle when a truck ran a red light and crashed into him, causing him to land and pull the nerves on his neck out of his spinal cord. The injury left Stokes with his left arm paralyzed, putting what he thought was an end to his pilot dreams.
Since the age of 7, Stokes had been inspired by his uncle who flew fighter jets for the US Air Force. The sights and sounds of planes fascinated Stokes, and became his obsession in elementary school.
“I was completely obnoxious about airplanes since I was a kid,” said Stokes. “My teachers would have us write stories and draw pictures, and the only thing I could ever draw, write and talk about were planes.”
After the accident, Stokes convinced himself his dreams of becoming a pilot were at an end, negatively impacting his studies in college. Many doctors attempted to work on repairing Stoke’s paralyzed arm that remained useless in a sling, but no solution could be found.
It took time for Stokes to realize that his life wasn’t over and that he was accomplishing many small goals, learning how to adapt with just one arm every day. What Stokes believed to be a setback slowly ended up showing him the way back to his dreams.
Re-learning the small things in life—such as showering, putting on clothes, tying shoes, figuring out how to put toothpaste on the brush—had him realize he could do anything with time and a lot of practice.
“Funny enough it was my limitations that eventually set me free, I got a gain from this loss,” said Stokes.
In 2012, Stokes made the decision to completely remove his arm, and opt in for a prosthetic. The arm had been slowly deteriorating as it sat useless in a cast holder for years, treated like a broken arm that would never heal again.
This finally allowed him to become a better student in college where he graduated from UC Berkeley and received his bachelor’s degree in Rhetoric and Public Policy.
After college, Stokes visited a friend from Berkeley who took him on a motorcycle ride, which he had not been on since his accident. This was a stepping stone for Stokes, inspiring him to look into the thing he once loved—flying.
Stokes began his pilot training in 2014 in the city of Hawthorne.
Shortly after this time, a malfunction of his prosthetic arm led Stokes to permanently remove the bulky body part.
In the middle of a long distance flight to show his instructor that he could fly solo, the arm came off, and he wasn’t able to repair it. However, Stokes knew he could continue the flight without his arm because of the many hours he put into practice on the airplane simulator without using the prosthetic. It was then Stokes knew he didn’t need the prosthetic, and decided not to wear it anymore.
After 40 hours of training, he received his private pilot’s license and became one of the few full-arm amputee pilots around the area.
Upon receiving his pilot’s license in Torrance where he was born and raised, he then moved to Garden Grove, when his instructor recommended he work as a dispatcher at the Long Beach Airport, where he currently works today.
“The extra step I had to take was demonstrating to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that I could fly safely,” said Stokes. “I had to demonstrate a Statement of Demonstrative Ability (SODA) where you fly up with them and show them you are capable.”
As an amputee pilot, Stokes knew how much practice he needed to put in every day to develop and progress in his flying skills, even taking it upon himself to practice on an airplane simulator at work and home in Garden Grove. He currently has about 700 hours of homework time and 180 hours of real flying time logged, some of which include close calls.
One of the first exciting and terrifying moments as a pilot for Stokes was flying solo for the first time.
“That’s the moment where you know you have to have knowledge of everything,” said Stokes. “The airport, airspace, regulations you have to adhere to, controlling the airplane and not fighting it, and landing the plane. When I was up in the air by myself, it dawned on me then that I was completely alone. The feeling was so intense.”
Currently, Stokes is working on receiving his instrument flying license, which means practicing for another 40 hours flying through bad weather conditions, such as fog, rain and cloudy days.
He currently has a GoFundMe account set up to help pay for that training.
In addition to being a dispatcher, Stokes is also an advanced ground instructor (AGI), teaching materials that a student pilot needs to learn on the ground, such as weather, aerodynamics, and aircraft performance. Stokes loves sharing his experience with his students, and with every lesson plan, he aims to work in something exciting and motivational that his students can have fun with and relate to.
“Everybody is struggling out there,” said Stokes. “Everyone has their own mental roadblock, and it’s the same thing for me. I get to talk to students all the time about their challenges and share mine as well.”
The power of speaking and conveying ideas to inspire people is what Stokes aims to accomplish next. Motivated by studying speech and the capabilities that come with it, he knew he could do something with what he learned in school, which is to become a professional speaker.
“I want to be a motivational speaker and speak at amputee camps, airshows, and other events” said Stokes. “Connecting and sharing your stories with people can be so powerful, I don’t want to limit my story to just pilots, I want more people to hear about this and become inspired and set out to accomplish their goals.”
Stokes is a motivational speaker on social media, where he uploads videos on his Instagram account for anyone to watch.