Outdoors/Adventure

Deadlines loom for Alaska aviation scholarships

Several Alaska organization offer aviation scholarships but deadlines are rapidly approaching.

The Alaskan Aviation Safety Foundation offers an annual scholarship to students "currently enrolled in an accredited college, university, trade school or approved training center" who intend to pursue a future career in the aviation field. Applicants must have at least a private pilot license, fulfill certain Alaska residency requirements and have completed two semesters or 30 percent of the work towards their professional goal." For more information see the foundation's website.

AASF also administers the Dale Carlson Memorial Scholarship which at least annually awards a Spidertracks device via Northern Lights Avionics in Anchorage. This scholarship was created by the family of pilot Dale Carlson who died in a plane crash last year in Prince William Sound. According to Carlson's sister, Kelly Atlee, her brother was very safety-conscious and flew with a Spidertracks unit so his family could easily track his progress. "Our wish," explained Atlee in an email, "would be that every pilot fly with a spidertrack, but we know that flying is expensive, and not all pilots have the financial resources to purchase a unit -- especially newer pilots."

The Alaska Ninety-Nines awards multiple scholarships to female Alaska residents over the age of 16. There are specific preferences for some of the awards, and all of them are for flight training only. The scholarship funds will be provided directly to the recipient's flight school.

The deadline for all of these scholarships is March 31.

The Alaska Airmen Association awards five scholarships annually in a range of aviation fields. The scholarships support costs toward obtaining a private pilot certificate, careers in aviation management, aircraft maintenance and professional piloting and the Bob Ellis Memorial Scholarship Southeast which is specifically awarded to a Southeast resident who pursues a career in the aviation industry.

The deadline for the five Alaska Airmen Association scholarships is March 30.

Contact Colleen Mondor at colleen@chasingray.com.

Colleen Mondor

Colleen Mondor is the author of "The Map of My Dead Pilots: The Dangerous Game of Flying in Alaska." Find her at chasingray.com or on Twitter @chasingray.

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