Promoting and Supporting General
Aviation and the Public's Understanding of it
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One of the most common questions received at the Wolf Aviation Fund is if we have grants available for flight training or for educational scholarships. We do try to guide people who need support in learning to fly or in developing aviation careers. However, we normally do not provide funds for educational scholarships or for flight training for individuals because there are many organizations that do - and almost none that provide the kinds of grants we have provided in the past. But we will try to help you find those groups that do provide educational and flight training support. Please read this message very carefully. You will probably find some useful information here that you will not find anywhere else. There are quite a few scholarships available from various organizations. In addition, many of the aviation camps and other training programs are heavily subsidized and might be appropriate for your needs. Finally, for ground school many local colleges and adult education programs have free or low cost sessions. We are always collecting information so we can provide expanded information on scholarships and training grants here on our web site and in helping with sites like AVSCHOLARS, which we describe further below. In addition the following sources of information may be helpful: AVIATION SCHOLARSHIPS For actual scholarships, primarily educational, one useful book is Aviation Scholarships by Sedgwick D. Hines, an airline pilot from Chicago. It is no longer in print but is often available in many libraries. It was originally published by Flight Time Publishing. However the information in the book and more is now available for free on the web at a site called www.AVSCHOLARS.COM, perhaps the best single source for information on aviation scholarships. While the information has not been updated in some time you should still consider it to be a primary source of information and we will discuss this more at the end of this message and provide the link, as well as a link to Mr. Hines FREE eBook on financial aid. Also, another excellent compilation of aviation scholarship information may be found at www.FlightScholarship.info. ZINCH.COM: A general scholarship search and support site that is highly regarded is www.zinch.com and the direct link to their scholarship search page is www.zinch.com/scholarships/. After entering your personal data such as student status and scholarship purpose, click on the Interests link and for aviation scholarships enter Trades in the Category and Aviation in the Interests box, then choose one or more of the career paths shown. You must register on the site to see the results. Other scholarship information can be found by searching the web for "aviation scholarships" using such search engines as www.google.com or on multiple-search sites such as www.dogpile.com. For instance, visit http://www.scholarshipsandgrants.us/ - this site has good information about scholarships and has a whole section called "Aviation Scholarships and Grants." NCASE WEBSITE AND LISTED GROUPS: If you follow the links on our website you will find a link to aviation education groups, the National Coalition for Aviation and Space Education (NCASE) list. (Or available directly at http://www.aviationeducation.org). This is a great site with information on scholarships and it acts as a gateway to many helpful organizations. The Wolf Aviation Fund has been supportive of NCASE and its website. On the NCASE site the NCASE GUIDE button will display a list of all groups and their resources, including scholarship information. For example, in the NCASE Guide you will find the University Aviation Association, and other groups, many of which may prove helpful. UAA does provide information about aviation scholarships and maintains a website page at the following location: NCASE member group the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) also has some information on flight training support and loan programs. If you are an AOPA member their write-up can be found in the members-only section at http://www.aopa.org/members/files/topics/aviation_loans/overview.html If you are not a member you can get on the main pages at http://www.aopa.org and see if those pages are helpful. They have quite a bit of information about learning to fly and financing training. You can also call them at 1 800 USA-AOPA. Another NCASE member group is the National Business Aircraft Association and they also have a page listing their scholarships. View it at http://web.nbaa.org/public/education/scholarships/ Also listed in the NCASE Guide is Women in Aviation International, which also provides many scholarships especially tailored to increase the participation of women in the world of aviation. Visit their site at We suggest you explore all the other appropriate NCASE groups for information about scholarships and other resources supporting training and careers in aviation. Don't forget to click on the button there marked NCASE GUIDE, because it provides links to the web pages containing scholarship and grant information at various organizations. We also suggest you check with the Be-A-Pilot program at http://www.beapilot.com/ . This is a central clearinghouse for information on learning to fly. GENERAL INFORMATION ON SCHOLARSHIPS Another general site that may be very useful is http://www.scholarshipproviders.org. It is the National Scholarship Providers Association (NSPA) website which details more about the organization. Fastweb (above) founded and sponsors this association. OTHER AVIATION SCHOLARSHIPS AND SOURCES OF INFORMATION If you have any interest in youth training, many of the state aviation education councils work with the FAA in hosting ACE camps and other camps, some of which offer scholarships. Most camps are largely subsidized or operated by volunteers, so costs tend to be modest in any case. If you will be training in the United States you might log on www.nasea.org and see if your state has a council listed. The FAA sites listed on our own site also list organizations in various states that may be of help. And most states have an aviation agency that often supports aviation education work. The FAA's aviation education site also lists many ACE camps in the United
States. Another lower cost alternative concerns flying clubs. Many of them exist in various countries. Often they can offer reduced cost aircraft and instruction. And some even give additional discounts for services performed in support of the club and its aircraft. Club instructors can also often be very flexible about trading their instructional time for things you can do for them. When you talk to the other sources above ask them about clubs, too. AOPA has a list of many clubs, as does EAA, and some of the big aviation websites such as www.avweb.com or www.landings.com keep lists as well. We found a large number by entering "flying club" in a Google search. Also check at several of the businesses and the airport administration offices at your local airports to see if they know of clubs at those airports. Some pilots earned their wings by taking full or part time jobs at local flight schools. Like the clubs, these businesses often give discounts or other help to those who work for them. In countries outside the United States there are often "Aero Clubs" or similar organizations that promote aviation in the country or area and which often have social events. Sometimes they are associated with commercial airline or military flying in the area. Investigate if such an organization is located in your area and see if there are any events you could attend. Perhaps you could volunteer to help with one of the events. This can provide a way to get to know pilots and aviation supporters and perhaps learn of other ways to get involved in aviation. In the United States the National Aeronautic Association www.naa.aero has a number of Aero Clubs around the U.S. that are affiliates. Sometimes these groups offer scholarships and grants, too. NAA is a member group of the FAI, the Federation Aéronautique International.
There are national groups like NAA in many countries and these often have strong
ties to aero clubs. If you are outside the U.S. see if your country has a
national affiliate - the website is at http://www.fai.org/
- Here is another suggestion: there are many volunteer pilot organizations
whose members fly patients for care or who perform other missions of service.
Some of them appreciate the help of non-pilot volunteers to sit in the right
seat and help with paperwork, flight planning, and other matters.
This is a
great way to get free flight experiences and to meet those who may be able to
help you in your objectives, while you are using aviation to help others.
You
can try contacting several groups that serve your area by logging on the website
www.aircareall.org and searching the
listings page. RECAP: primary aviation scholarship sites:We mentioned above the site AVSCHOLARS.COM. With the help of a
Wolf Aviation Fund grant, Mr. Hines has taken the material in his Aviation
Scholarships book and formatted it for the web. The result is perhaps the best
single place for information on scholarships, at Mr. Hines wrote and published his information as a way to say thanks to all
those who helped him in his dream to become a pilot, and to help others who have
similar aspirations. Be sure to visit that site. Also check out http://www.zinch.com/scholarships/ And another excellent compilation of aviation scholarship information may be found at:
http://www.FlightScholarship.info Good luck in your scholarship quest! Internet replies to: mail@wolf-aviation.org.
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