Ten scholarship recipients will become sport pilots in 2019, thanks to the efforts of Able Flight, a nonprofit organization that helps persons with disabilities learn to fly.
The recipients will begin training in May at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, or at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Flight instructors with each university’s aviation program work with the Able Flight students, who live on campus for six to eight weeks to complete their training and sport pilot checkride. The students will learn in light sport aircraft, some of which have been modified with hand brakes to accommodate students who do not have use of their legs.
Scholarship recipients are Will Bucher of North Carolina, Daniel Gade of Virginia, Emily Hupe of California, Leslie Irby and Ignacio Montoya of Georgia, T’angelo Magee of New Jersey, Samuel Mahoney and Steven Martinez of Wisconsin, Joseph Moncalieri of Massachusetts, and Anthony Radetic of Alabama.
This year Able Flight will have given out the largest number of scholarships in a single year, said Executive Director Charles Stites. “We are excited to have awarded more than 100 total scholarships since the program was founded,” he said.
Able Flight’s 2019 graduates will receive their Able Flight Wings at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in July.