Chapter 430 Scholarship Program

The future of general aviation, especially private flying just for the love of flying, is dependent upon attracting young people. For this reason, our Chapter supports young men and women with an aviation scholarship. As Scholarship Chair, I’ve been successful in identifying candidates from the Port Townsend Aero Museum where high school age students dedicate one full day a week to supporting the museum’s work. By working, they learn valuable work ethics, in addition to learning aircraft maintenance and restoration. In return for their work, they learn to fly in the aircraft they’ve maintained and restored. Our current scholarship recipient from the museum is Jacob Kirschbaum who has one and a half years to go in the University of North Dakota’s aviation program.

Recently two additional young adults, not associated with the museum, have come to the Board’s attention. The first is Madeline Patterson who is familiar to anyone who attended past EAA 430 Chapter meetings because she is our Membership Chair. She is continuing to fill that position even while attending the University of North Dakota in her freshman year. The second is Daniel Weaver who came to my attention while learning to fly at Rite Brothers during his senior year of high school. Daniel earned his private certificate and is now a full-time student at the University of Washington studying aeronautical engineering. But what convinced me of his commitment to flying is that, while attending the UW (virtually at the moment), he also works as a line person at Rite Brothers to pay for more flying lessons. To top it off, as a young man of thirteen, he included the numbers 747 in his email address and yes, those numbers refer to a Boeing model. He likes to think big.

Bottom line is the Board would like to extend scholarships to both Madeline and Daniel for the last three years of their college education. Our scholarships are $1,500 per year and are sent to the registrar’s office for tuition and fees. This in turn frees up funds for flying lessons and advanced certificates.

The ongoing bill comes to $3,000 per year for both. One member has made a contribution of $1,500 and a challenge to the remaining membership of Chapter 430 to match or exceed that $1,500. With 100 members I think we can meet that challenge.

David Miller, Scholarship Chair

Greetings EAA Chapter 430 Scholarship Board, I appreciate the consideration for this chapter’s aviation training scholarship. While I first caught the aviation bug through the love I have for flying and the freedom it provides, I have found that the true value to being in aviation is that of the community. The aviation world builds and supports itself by mentoring students and sharing resources and experiences, and I have always been grateful for the people who have helped me along my path to where I am today, learning at a top aviation university and getting to spend every day immersed in the aerospace world.

After my graduation from the University of North Dakota with a Bachelors of Aeronautical Sciences with a Major in Commercial Aviation in Spring 2024, I intend to apply to Officer Candidate School for the United States Coast Guard. If I were to receive a guaranteed flight billet, I would attend OCS in New London, Connecticut and become a Coast Guard aviator and fly whatever mission I am assigned, be it Search and Rescue in a HH-65 Dolphin or Support the International Ice Patrol in the Arctic Circle in a C-130J Super Hercules. This career path would be my primary choice, because I grew up in the Emergency Services environment, my ideal day-to-day life would include a variety of operations and missions, and it is part of my fundamental ideals to live life in service of others.

Other careers that I am considering while I am still in school includes commercial aviation for a Part 121 carrier or flying for an air ambulance service. At the University of North Dakota, the Aviation College hosts career fairs multiple times a year and offers career counseling and assistance. This is why I do not have a concrete 10-year plan: I believe it is important to remain open to different opportunities that I may find and mentors I may meet over the next three years while I am a student at UND.

No matter the country, the career, the operation, or the employer, I am a pilot, and I will be flying for a living.

Thank you again for your consideration, Madeline Patterson