Students, veterans, and women are among those eligible for scholarships that cover flight training and education. Aviation organizations recognize the importance of investing in the future of aviation by offering scholarships. Each month, AOPA covers new scholarships that are open to applicants and highlights success stories of past scholarship winners. Share these opportunities with those you know who are in training for an aviation-related field.
Scholarship opportunities
Students attending the West Michigan Aviation Academy charter high school in Grand Rapids. Mich., will now benefit from $240,000 in scholarships donated by Savannah, Ga.-based Gulfstream Aerospace, reports MLive.com. One graduate a year will be given $60,000 for the next four years.
The Spitfire Flight Scholarship to benefit wounded ex-servicemen is operated by Boultbee Flight Academy in the United Kingdom, with support from the organizations Aerobility and Flying for Freedom, in partnership with The Endeavour Fund. Beginning in the summer, six candidates will be chosen to begin flight training that mirrors what was done for World War II pilot veterans. One of the candidates will progress from a Tiger Moth to a Harvard and finally to a solo flight in a Spitfire to help mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Battle of Britain in September 2015.
LadiesLoveTaildraggers has opened applications for a scholarship allowing one woman to earn her tailwheel endorsement in 2014. The scholarship, with training offered by Brian Lansburgh and Tailwheelers Journal, is valued at $1,850 and includes six hours of flight instruction in a 1948 Cessna 140; ground school; travel; lodging; car rental; and meal expenses. Applications are due by June 15.
Scholarship Winners
The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) has chosen three individuals to receive its 2014 Leadership Conference Scholarship. The scholarship, valued at $1,845, covers expenses to attend NBAA’s 2014 Leadership Conference, which took Feb. 19 and 20 in Atlanta. The winners are Eric Wenner, a senior and pilot at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minn., majoring in professional flight; Arthur (AJ) Ramey, a flight instructor at Birmingham Flight Center in Alabama; and LeVere Smith, an owner advocate of Jet Advocates LLC in Ithaca, N.Y.
NBAA also named two recipients of its Donald A. Baldwin Sr. Business Aviation Management Scholarship, which helps those seeking to become NBAA certified aviation managers. The scholarship, which is given annually in coordination with the family of Donald A. Baldwin Sr., promotes professional development in business aviation by providing financial support for qualified certified aviation manager exam candidates. The recipients are Shaun Gerber, a flight operations captain with TEG Architects, in Jeffersonville, Ind.; and Andrew Brigmam, a Part 135 captain with Jet Linx Aviation in Dallas.
Scholarship roundup
Here’s a reminder of the upcoming deadlines for previously reported scholarships.
March 15– Wichita Aero Club Stimpson Scholarship Fund
April 18 – GAMA Edward W. Stimpson Aviation Excellence Award
April 18 – GAMA Dr. Harold S. Wood Award for Excellence
Rolling – Able Flight
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