By B.W. Jacobsen, EAA 1060967
Better spring weather is always welcome, and so many more indoor and outdoor activities blossom right along with the trees and flowers. It also brings scholarships and signing of letters of intent. One activity that revs up for the new season is light aircraft operations at airports in the area and across the country. One of those locations is the grass-field Cottonwood Airport in Rockford, Illinois. While operations there are always year-round, even in the winter when the skis go on the airplanes, the summer operations allow an easy walk-around of the interesting airplanes in the relaxed setting of a nostalgic grass field. Some would say, “The way it began and should be.”
While there may be fresh grass and new blooms of dandelions, the aircraft might be a bit older than the owner/pilot. This is usually true for the yearly crop of student pilots that study at the Cottonwood STEM Center of applied science across from Auburn High. But, since new homebuilt aircraft are under construction all the time, even highschoolers may be sitting in an airplane younger than they are.
The STEM Center is an older hangar where EAA Chapter 22 holds its classes for the pilot ground school and instrument navigation ground school and on other nights of the week there are classes or experiences in building aircraft. Other nights experienced pilots come to learn new knowledge, share experiences, or learn what changes have been made in FAA regulations. This center of activity and education wouldn’t be possible without the dedication and support of the members of Chapter 22 and often generous contributions and supporting community attendance at fundraising events that are necessary to support the educational programs and scholarships.
The most significant is the annual Ray Aviation Scholarship $11,000 award and Chapter 22’s $9,000 scholarship for high school students with a focus on a career in aviation. There are many highly qualified students in the program vying for the scholarships that they all would be well qualified to receive. The scholarships require they sign on to complete the program to gain their private pilot certification in one year without fail. Like the Star Wars phrase says, “Every saga has a beginning,” and for them they will be pilots! This success is ensured by extensive local mentorship and EAA accountability requirements for all. Chapter 22’s multiple years of success with this program has gained national attention in the aviation community and brings in students from ever greater distances that then go on to additional training at Rock Valley, Embry-Riddle, or other advanced aviation schools for which they have been well prepared.
The aviation-related careers of Javier Lopez and Esther Anna Burchell got a huge boost via their being named scholarship awardees. The announcements were made at the hugely successful annual EAA Chapter 22 pancake breakfast at Cottonwood Airport on Saturday morning, May 4, coinciding with this year’s Star Wars “May the Fourth Be With You” theme.
The chapter saw a record number of aircraft arriving and the largest crowd of pancake diners. EAA Chapter 22 President Mark Grocholl stated, “It was the chapter’s 50th pancake breakfast, dating from 1974, and I wanted to thank all the volunteers that made it possible.”
The Ray and Chapter 22 scholarships ensure that Javier and Esther will be gaining their private pilot certificate this year in the intense training program they will be entering. Other applicants for the scholarships that are in line for student pilot training and scholarships are Alysen Adams, Chynx Ubas, and Zebedee Gautier. Efforts are underway to fund additional scholarships this year and, of course, more scholarships for next year that requires a continuing search for highly qualified and motivated high school students.
Javier was awarded the $11,000 Ray Aviation Scholarship. He is expected to do well and in short order complete the program which he hopes eventually leads to a career as an airline pilot. Esther was awarded the $9,000 EAA Chapter 22 Scholarship which she will use to follow in her parents’ missionary footsteps, but with the added skill of being a pilot in challenging parts of the world.
The pancake breakfast is a fundraiser for the organization that supports scholarships and continuing upgrades to the classroom environment and expansion of programs. New this semester, pilot ground instrument navigation class has raised offerings to a higher level via a highly skilled instructor.
Those wishing to contact Chapter 22 or with an interest in aviation can attend a membership meeting on the first Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. or arrive a little early for pre-meeting membership activities. Most of the membership meeting time is taken up by interesting, aviation related presenters. EAA Chapter 22 (eaa22.org)