Able Flight announces 2019 scholarship winners

This year’s group of recipients includes two women, a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel wounded in combat, and four other veterans disabled because of accidents. One of the veterans is a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot, who will be returning to flying as a fixed-wing pilot.

The recipients will begin training in May at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, or at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Flight instructors with each university’s aviation program work with the Able Flight students, who live on campus for six to eight weeks to complete their training and sport pilot checkride. The students will learn in light sport aircraft, some of which have been modified with hand brakes to accommodate students who do not have use of their legs. 

Scholarship recipients are Will Bucher of North Carolina, Daniel Gade of Virginia, Emily Hupe of California, Leslie Irby and Ignacio Montoya of Georgia, T’angelo Magee of New Jersey, Samuel Mahoney and Steven Martinez of Wisconsin, Joseph Moncalieri of Massachusetts, and Anthony Radetic of Alabama.

This year Able Flight will have given out the largest number of scholarships in a single year, said Executive Director Charles Stites. “We are excited to have awarded more than 100 total scholarships since the program was founded,” he said.

Able Flight’s 2019 graduates will receive their Able Flight Wings at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in July.