Preflight

Meet two aspiring professionals

It doesn't take long to realize that people learn to fly for a variety of reasons, and at a variety of ages. Based on my experiences with student pilots, I can make a couple of generalizations: Most student pilots in their mid-30s and older are learning to fly for the sheer enjoyment of it, for personal transportation, and/or because it's something they've always wanted to do -- and they finally have the time and resources to accept the challenge. On the other hand, younger students usually are aspiring professional aviators; some are seeking to earn the gamut of pilot credentials and build flight time as quickly as possible, following a career path that often leads to the left seat of an airliner, business jet, or charter aircraft.

For many years, AOPA Flight Training has been a sponsor of the International Women in Aviation (WAI) conference. The magazine traditionally has sponsored scholarships that allow two deserving students to attend the annual conference; more recently, we've also sponsored a Flight Instructor Refresher Clinic -- presented by the AOPA Air Safety Foundation -- that allows flight instructors to renew their CFI credentials while attending the WAI conference.

I just returned from this year's event, which was held in Dallas, Texas (see "Training Notes and News," p. 18). This year we had the toughest time choosing our scholarship winners that I can remember -- the quality of all the applicants was exceptionally high. Our two winners exhibit the kind of dedication and commitment that is common among their peers.

Karlie Beth Buntin started flying at age 18 while attending Western Oklahoma State College and is now a senior aviation management major at Oklahoma State University. She plans to obtain flight instructor and airframe and powerplant certificates as well as a master's degree in business administration, and eventually she would like to own her own flight school and maintenance shop.

The aviation bug bit Laurie Jessup when she discovered hang gliding while completing a nonaviation degree. Now she's finishing up her aviation maintenance coursework at Blackhawk Technical College in Janesville, Wisconsin. An enthusiastic student pilot, she would like to work as an airframe and powerplant mechanic and flight instructor, possibly in Alaska.

If you're interested in applying for the AOPA Flight Training scholarships to next year's Women in Aviation conference, applications and other information will be available on the WAI Web site this fall; completed applications normally are due in early December.

For some aspiring professional pilots, aviation career opportunities are more difficult to pursue today. After writing about the new Transportation Security Administration rules for flight instructors and flight schools (see "Preflight: Security Rules," March 2005 AOPA Flight Training), I heard from several readers who are not U.S. citizens and have had to complete a different, and rather more intensive, background check.

"I'm a non-U.S. citizen and have just completed the entire process to be approved," wrote one reader who asked not to be identified. "Even though I understand the importance of it, I found the entire process to be rather tedious, and a prospective student might easily get disheartened having to jump through various hoops prior to them ever getting off the ground on their first lesson."

This individual prepared a guide to the foreign background check process and has graciously allowed us to share it with other readers. "I documented the process as I went along. I added a bit more info (telephone numbers and Web site address) when I read your previous article and thought of sending it to you." It's available online; we hope that it will increase foreign students' understanding and help them to complete the process as efficiently as possible.

E-mail Mike Collins, editor of AOPA Flight Training.