American Eurocopter Flight Training Scholarship–Georgina Hunter-Jones, Whirly-Girl No. 586, London, England, to attend the AS 350 transition course at Eurocopter in Grand Prairie, Texas. Hunter-Jones, founder and editor of Helicopter Life and a helicopter flight instructor, holds the high-altitude world record for light helicopters.
Bell Helicopter Textron Flight Training Scholarship–Cindy Grover, WG No. 1292, flight instructor for Tomlinson Aviation in Ormond Beach, Fla., to attend the Bell 206 turbine transition course at Bell’s Fort Worth customer training academy.
Doris Mullen Flight Training Scholarship–Elizabeth Cook, WG No. 1279, San Diego, Calif. This scholarship, in memory of Doris Mullen, WG No. 84, who lost her life in a 1968 fixed-wing aircraft accident, provides $6,000 to a Whirly-Girl toward an advanced helicopter rating. Cook is currently a flight instructor at Corporate Helicopters.
Flight Safety International Instrument Refresher Course Scholarship–Sue Knoebel, WG No. 367, Warrington, Pa., for 12 hours of academic training and six hours of sim instruction at the FlightSafety learning center in Hurst, Texas, or West Palm Beach, Fla. Knoebel holds a rotorcraft ATP certificate, with flight and instrument instructor ratings.
Helicopter Services Inc. Flight Training Scholarship–Lorena Knapp, WG No. 1322, Hillsboro, Ore., for up to $5,000 toward recurrency or advanced helicopter training in the Robinson R22, R44 or Bell 206 at Helicopter Services in Spring, Texas. Knapp is a flight instructor at Hillsboro Aviation. She was previously a school teacher in Alaska.
Judy Short Memorial Flight Training Scholarship–to Rikke Carmichael, WG No. 890, Branchburg, N.J. This one-time scholarship for $5,000 goes to a Whirly-Girl who is already a helicopter CFI to obtain a CFII rating. Carmichael received a master’s degree in aviation management from the University of Southampton in England.
Vortex Scholarship in Memory of Justin Weaver–Genevieve Kelly, WG No. 1283, Seattle, Wash. Funded by Vortex Helicopters, it provides up to $4,000 toward recurrency or an advanced helicopter rating at the Vortex facility in New Iberia, La. Kelly plans to use the scholarship to complete her CFII. Currently she holds a commercial rotorcraft license and is completing her instrument and CFI ratings.
JRHP International Whirly-Girls Scholarship– Bettina Schleidt, WG No. 1307, of Dietzenbach, Germany, in memory of Whirly-Girls founder Jean Ross Howard-Phelan. It provides $6,000 for a currently licensed female pilot who is not a U.S. citizen to obtain her helicopter add-on rating or upgrade her current helicopter ratings. Schleidt’s goal is to add the R44 to her current R22 rating.
Robinson Safety Course Scholarship–Patricia Calder, WG No. 1213, Wuppertal, Germany. The Robinson Helicopter Co. scholarship is for the R22/R44 Safety Course in Torrance, Calif., a three-and-a-half day class that includes two and a half days of classroom instruction and one day devoted to maintenance, preflight inspections and flying with an experienced Robinson pilot. Calder is currently a Lufthansa flight attendant.
Whirly-Girls Helicopter Flight Training Scholarship–Leslie Anne Fink, Bountiful, Utah. The $6,000 award to a currently licensed female pilot to obtain her helicopter rating will allow Fink to achieve her goal of being a professional helicopter pilot. A fixed-wing pilot since 1998, she holds commercial airplane certificate with SEL, MEL, instrument, CFI and CFII ratings. She was recently hired as a first officer by American Eagle.
