News Archive
AOPA Air Safety Foundation announces winners of 1999 McAllister and Burnside scholarships
Two university students have each won a $1,000 scholarship administered by the AOPA Air Safety Foundation and the University Aviation Association.
The 1999 McAllister Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Jason Gortney of Goshen, Indiana. Gortney is a senior majoring in professional pilot technology at the School of Aviation Technology at Purdue University.
The 1999 Burnside Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Jason John-Stanley McMahon of Columbus, Ohio, a junior majoring in aviation-human factors at Ohio State University.
Scholarship contestants were college juniors or seniors pursuing a degree in aviation and maintaining a grade point average of 3.25 or better on a 4.0 scale. Applicants submitted an essay addressing the topic, “What one item could be changed to improve student pilot training?” for the McAllister Scholarship and “How should the Air Safety Foundation educate pilots on avoiding VFR flight into instrument conditions?” for the Burnside Scholarship.
In his essay, Gortney wrote that many student pilots do not know what is expected of them, and it is often not until final checkride preparations that instructors discuss the required practical test standards (PTS). “I feel that [the PTS] should be used from the early stages of training to get the student comfortable with the standards that he or she will be held accountable for,” Gortney wrote.
A 600-hour commercial pilot and CFII with instrument and multiengine ratings, Gortney plans to pursue a career as an airline pilot.
McMahon’s essay focused on the creation of an “instrument conditions risk checklist” that would help pilots evaluate whether a VFR flight might encounter instrument conditions.
“ASF can utilize its research data and experts to identify the most important risk factor ‘links’ that are statistically associated with VFR flight into IMC accidents, [such as] specific forecast weather criteria, weather observation criteria, psychological factors, etc.,” wrote McMahon. “[These] yes/no risk items can be consolidated into a simple preflight/in-flight checklist, which can heighten a pilot’s awareness of the potential for encountering IMC.”
McMahon is a 265-hour commercial pilot and hopes to work in the aviation safety field after graduation.
The McAllister Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 1979 by friends of Eugene and Dorothy McAllister, enthusiastic pilots who devoted much of their lives to pilot training. The Donald Burnside Memorial Scholarship honors the aviation pioneer and co-founder of the Burnside-Ott Flight School in Florida.
Applications for next year’s McAllister and Burnside scholarships can be obtained online or by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Scholarship, AOPA Air Safety Foundation, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, MD 21701. Applications must be received by March 31, 2000.
The nonprofit AOPA Air Safety Foundation produces educational materials and conducts courses for continuing pilot education nationwide. It is funded by donations from individual pilots and organizations who support the cause of improved general aviation safety.
99-3-021
August 30, 1999
