2016 Able Flight Pilots Get Their Wings

Able 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.