By Jackson Bellard, EAA 1045627
On my eighth birthday, I took my first flight with EAA Carson City Chapter 403’s Young Eagles program and I set a goal to become a private pilot before receiving my diploma. Using the Tinker Murdock Scholarship, I was able to become a private pilot on May 1, 2020.
I am now flying in the skies of Austin, Texas, and attending the University of Texas as a Forty Acres Scholar and a Stamps Scholar. I have become active in the university flying club and am pursuing a degree in aeronautical engineering. Currently, I have been using my experimental aircraft knowledge from EAA as the safety director in the Texas Rocket Engineering Lab. I also received a tailwheel endorsement on January 1, 2021, and am working on an instrument rating.
I mainly attribute my love of aircraft and safety to EAA. I first fell in love with flight and aircraft design from my Saturday mornings at the airport. I actively help EAA members building their own kit planes whenever they ask and find a lot of joy in trying new ways to hopefully make their experimental aircraft performance better. I would not have been able to receive my private or tailwheel endorsement without the guidance and help of EAA and the Tinker Murdoch Scholarship and I am extraordinarily thankful and proud to call myself an EAA member for life.