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Charles Stites

2017 Flight Training Underway

 

(L-R) Brice Lott, Josh Fisher, Luke Shutway and Chris Corsi

Ever since they were awarded scholarships, the Able Flight “Class of 2017” had been waiting for training to begin. Months of anticipation culminated in the arrival of Brice Lott and Chris Corsi at The Ohio State University on May 15th, and a week later, Melissa Allensworth, Benedict Jones, Kunho Kim, Zackary Kurkalo, Ferris Butler, and Kathryn Brenner arrived at Purdue. After meeting their instructors and getting settled in their dorm rooms, daily flight and ground school lessons were quickly underway.

 

(L-R) Lucero Duran, Wesley Major and Molly Van Scoy

Even with less than desirable weather throughout the Midwest in the first two weeks, instructors had the students up flying as often as twice a day, and time spent not in the air was time spent in the classroom. Instructing for Able Flight at OSU this year are Luke Shutway and Josh Fisher, with Joe Schwerdtfeger serving as supervising instructor, and Rob Mendez as student ambassador.

 

At Purdue, Lucero Duran returns as lead instructor with Justin Beam, Allison Hoffman, Sean O’Brien, Chris Konecnik, Nick Liberman, Rob Banta and Molly Van Scoy as instructors. Wesley Major is the onsite program coordinator at Purdue for the fifth consecutive year. With the expansion of training to The Ohio State University, this is the largest group of students and instructors and support personnel in the history of Able Flight, and the logistical challenges reflect the size of the project.

A few numbers to consider:

Students traveled from eight states
Eight dorm rooms
Eleven instructors
Five airplanes (four were ferried from three states)
Two onsite program coordinators
Three maintenance staff
Over 1100 gallons of Swift Fuels and avgas  will be used (Swift Fuels at Purdue and avgas at OSU)
Hundreds of classroom and individual pre and post flight hours

Announcing Our 2017 Scholarship Awards

 

This year’s class will train at Able Flight’s programs at Purdue University and Ohio State University, and includes a U.S. Army captain wounded in combat, a young woman with diabetes, a young man who is deaf, and five people who use wheelchairs due to paralysis caused by injuries.

Receiving full flight training scholarships are Brice Lott and Chris Corsi of North Carolina, Melissa Allensworth of California, Zackery Kukorlo of Washington, Kathryn Brenner of Illinois, Kunho Kim of Massachusetts, Benedict Jones of Indiana and Captain Ferris Butler (U.S. Army-retired) of Colorado. Receiving a “Flight Training Challenge” Scholarship is Steven Martinez of Wisconsin.

Able Flight’s Charles Stites said, “For years, our 2017 scholarship recipients have faced living with physical disabilities that present daily challenges, and now, they will face the challenge of becoming a licensed pilot. During their training they’ll learn what it means when we say our program is intensive and demanding. And when they are successful, they will have earned the privilege to share the wonder of flight.”

This is the eighth consecutive year of Able Flight’s partnership with Purdue, and the first year of its expansion to Ohio State University. Graduates of the “Class of 2017” will be guests of honor when they receive their Able Flight Wings on stage at EAA AirVenture, just weeks after becoming licensed pilots.

 

2016 Able Flight Pilots Get Their Wings

OSH 2016 Wings wide DanielsAble Flight had a full house on stage for our annual Wings Pinning ceremony at EAA AirVenture on July 26th, 2016.  On hand to congratulate the new pilots were family and friends, Able Flight sponsors, and special guest Patty Wagstaff, member of the Aviation Hall of Fame.

Pilots receiving their Able Flight Wings were Chris Sullivan, Johnny Ragsdale, Scott Earley, Shavon McGlynn, Justin Falls, Ethan Daffron, Bernard Dime, and Trevor Denning. Also honored were Shafeeq Moore  who will complete training in 2017, and Sgt. Adam Kisielweski (USMC-retired) who earned his Instrument rating this year with support of a career Flight Training scholarship from Able Flight.  Also  attending were flight instructors from Purdue, and Wesley Major, an Able Flight pilot from the Class of 2012 who is now a graduate student at Purdue and has served as the program’s onsite volunteer coordinator for four years.

 The ceremony also marked the 10th anniversary since the founding of Able Flight in May of 2006. Since July of 2007, Able Flight has awarded over 70 scholarships including flight training and aviation career training scholarships.
 The following pilots were selected as the recipients of named scholarships:
Johnny Ragsdale: Recipient of the Tempest/Able Flight Scholarship: Wings pinned by John and Arlene Herman
Justin Falls:  Recipient of the Shell Aviation/Able Flight Scholarship-Wings pinned by Stephane Cicollela and Paul Royko
Shavon McGlynn: Recipient of the Jet Aviation/Able Flight Scholarship: Wings pinned by Patty Wagstaff
Bernard Dime: Recipient of the Bombardier/Able Flight Scholarship: Wings pinned by Mark Sirbinski
Trevor Denning: Recipient of the ForeFlight/Able Flight Scholarship: Wings pinned by Tyson Weihs and Gus Bustillo
Sgt. Chris Sullivan’s Wings were pinned by Sgt. Adam Kisielewski
Scott Earley’s Wings were pinned by his wife Hyla
Ethan Daffron was honored as the recipient of the Tyrell Rhodes Memorial Scholarship and his Able Flight Wings were pinned by Charles Stites.
Brian Stirm of Purdue University was honored as the 2016 recipient of the Seidel Award given to those who provide outstanding volunteer service to Able Flight. Each year, Brian donates many hours to maintain the training aircraft used in our program at Purdue. Presenting the award was last year’s recipient, Chris Throndsen.
Special thanks to Andrew Ovans and Dick Knapinski of EAA for their assistance with the ceremony, and to Wayne Daniels for the photos.