Promoting and Supporting General
Aviation and the Public's Understanding of it
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact for Media Inquiries: Rol Murrow, Executive Director mail@wolf-aviation.org or 575-774-0029
Wolf Aviation Fund Grant Proposals Due December 15
Foundation seeks applications for funding for projects and programs in seven program areas.
Each year the Wolf Aviation Fund provides grants for a
number of individuals and organizations doing great work in general aviation.
To date 307 projects or programs have received awards, with their worthy applicants
receiving the funding and recognition that is so vital for folks working on new
ideas.
Applications must meet certain criteria and fit into the Fund's seven major program areas, which are: Developing Public Policy and Airports; Networking and Mutual Support; Development and Alternative Resources; Communications, Media, and Community Relations; General Aviation Technology, Safety, and Noise; Improving Public Understanding and Perception; and Aviation and Space Education.
Illustrating the wide variety of successful grant applicants, several of the 2010 Program projects include:
- Amy Laboda and Laura Ying Gao's "Women to Women" program helping Chinese and US women in
aviation meet and build a women's aviation effort in China
- Talkeetna Build A Plane, a program offering high risk Alaskan youth a three-dimensional entry into aviation by rebuilding wrecked aircraft
- A March, 2011 two day national conference organized by Doug Stewart and the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE), focusing on the changes needed in pilot training doctrine, standards, and curricula
- The Neuse Basin Boy Scouts Aviation Merit Badge Camporee, a first time major jamboree involving more than 300 scouts and their adult leaders providing intensive training for aviation merit badges
- Teachers Day at AirVenture 2011, organized by Lyn
Freeman and Build a Plane, designed to educate teachers how to use aviation in
the classroom to motivate students in learning Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Math (STEM) subjects;
- Gregory Lawrence's “You Can Fly” presentation for schools for the Deaf,
DeafNation Expos, and Fly-Ins, showing that General Aviation is open and
available to almost everyone;
- Centennial Celebration of the 1911 Wright Glider organized by the First Flight
Foundation to observe and celebrate the record-setting soaring flight of Orville
Wright, flying for 9 minutes and 45 seconds on October 24, 1911;
- Aerospace Adventures Summer Youth Program, the startup of a new summer youth
aviation camp for middle and high school students, featuring a college level
campus and the facilities at the Aviation Center of Excellence, Florida State
College at Jacksonville, and the participation of prior grant recipient Youth
Aviation Adventure;
- An online safety course for volunteer pilots and their organizations being produced by the AOPA Foundation's Air Safety Institute;
- "May Day - Helicopters Save Lives" community aviation event at the American Helicopter Museum in Pennsylvania celebrating perhaps the most significant function of helicopters, saving lives;
- "Ballooning As A Gateway To General Aviation," Dede and Kenneth Anderson's new program involving hot air balloon demonstrations, rides, and associated educational activities;
- Jen Sachs' fascinating documentary on Sophie Blanchard, a pioneering French woman gas balloonist;
- Huntington Airport Terminal Building, a project to
kick off refurbishing an unused historic facility and using it as a center for
aviation activities, focal point for community airport awareness and pilot
education, and aviation gateway to the local economy.
The Fund also supported a number of additional exciting and innovative projects
which fit its mission of promoting and supporting general aviation through its
seven program areas. The projects above only provide a glimpse of the
remarkable accomplishments of the grant recipients and the value of their
contributions, often as volunteers leading teams of other volunteers in their
communities. They all deserve our recognition, support, encouragement, and
thanks for working so hard to build the future of aviation.
Proposals often received partial support, because by providing partial funding as challenge grants the recipients then may use the honor and recognition of a Wolf Aviation Fund grant to approach others and seek additional funding. This approach permits more projects to receive grants and has proven quite successful. We encourage all aviation supporters to look for those who have won Wolf Aviation Fund awards, and to provide them additional support.
Not all proposals could be funded, thus the Foundation is working to increase the funding available for projects. You are strongly encouraged to visit the website and learn about and help support some of these projects or to set up your own dedicated grant program.
Log on to www.wolf-aviation.org now to read about the Fund's grant program and to discover the rich world of resources available for those who are doing great work in general aviation!
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PHOTOS AVAILABLE BELOW
The Wolf Aviation Fund is a 501 C 3 nonprofit foundation which was created thanks to Alfred "Abby" and Constance "Connie" Wolf, who left their estate for the purpose. Connie was a world record setting gas balloonist and Abby was a prominent Philadelphia attorney and one of the five founders of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
Mission Statement: "The Foundation shall promote and support the advancement of personal air transportation by seeking and funding the most promising individuals and worthy projects which advance the field of general aviation; by increasing the public's knowledge of aviation through publications, seminars, and other information media; by informing the aviation and scientific community of the existence and purpose of the Fund; and by soliciting and receiving feedback concerning Foundation-supported projects."
PHOTOS with links to images:
Volunteers at the HNB Terminal Project Conduct a Model Building Class
Students in Alaska Restore Wrecked Aircraft for the Talkeetna Build a Plane Project
2011 Grant Program Logo
Additional logos on the Logos Page
