Former politician Howard Hobbs was the member for Warrego for 29 years before he called it a day, in 2015.
But his schedule hasn't slowed down and now he spends his time helping from above.
Since retiring, Howard has taken on many roles within the community including chairman of the Pinnaroo Aged Care in Roma.
His experience in flying also took him to Angel Flight, firstly as a director and now a pilot.
Howard gained his pilot's licence straight after entering politics and has flown more than 5100 hours across Australia.
"Three years ago, I was invited to join Angel Flight to help them through my political connections with some issues they were having with CASA," he said.
This year he took his involvement to another level and now does Angel Flight Missions out of Roma.
Angel Flight coordinates non-emergency flights to assist country people to access specialist medical treatment that would otherwise be unavailable to them because of vast distance and high travel costs.
All patients must be able to board a plane, but the flights are free and can involve travel to medical facilities anywhere in Australia.
He said prior to COVID-19, Angel Flight operated up to 2000 flights annually.
"COVID-19 hit and it certainly slowed down, but now we are making more flights than ever," he said.
Mr Hobbs said a typical day with Angel Flight was the ultimate why to see how donated money was spent.
"You meet the passenger, you look them in the eye, and they tell you how grateful they and how much they appreciate and the benefit of the service," he said.
"You form a close bond and often keep in touch.
"It is special to see how these public donations are used and how much they are appreciated."
Mr Hobbs donates his flying time and his Mooney 201 single engine plane, while Angel Flight pays for the aviation gas.
His most recent trip was to fly out to Thargomindah and collect a patient who needed treatment in Roma, and return him back home.
The trip involved seven hours of flying, over 1116 nautical miles, which equates to 2066 kilometres.
He has also collected patients after they were a Royal Flying Doctor Service emergency rescue, and needed to return home.
Mr Hobbs said it was a wonderful service, along with the ground angels, who meet patients from the plane and take them to their accommodation and medical appointments.
