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Able Flight pilots to receive their wings at AirVenture

Six new sport pilots and one private pilot who completed a weekslong intensive training course earlier this year will receive their wings at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in Wisconsin.

Able Flight scholarship recipients celebrate their success with their Purdue University flight instructors. Photo courtesy of Able Flight.

The seven pilots trained at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Each was the recipient of a scholarship from Able Flight, a nonprofit organization that seeks to help people with disabilities achieve their dreams of flight.

The pilots use wheelchairs and flew specially adapted Sky Arrow light sport aircraft. Purdue University undergraduate and graduate students provided flight instruction through a partnership with the university that began in 2010. Sporty’s Pilot Shop provided free online ground school, which the pilots completed before they arrived in West Lafayette to begin their flight training.

The pilots will receive their wings during a pinning ceremony held at 10 a.m. Central time July 25 at Theater in the Woods. Guests include aerobatics champion Patty Wagstaff.

The new sport pilots are Tyler Cernik of Michigan, Robert Dove of Florida, Melvin Du of Colorado, Andrew Kurka of Alaska, Dijon McCorkle of Mississippi, and William Scheremet of Minnesota. Leslie Irby of Georgia, who earned a sport pilot certificate with Able Flight in 2019, completed the process to obtain a third class medical and returned to transition to a private pilot certificate.

Jill W. Tallman
Jill W. Tallman
AOPA Technical Editor
AOPA Technical Editor Jill W. Tallman is an instrument-rated private pilot who is part-owner of a Cessna 182Q.
Topics: EAA AirVenture, Scholarship, Student

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