March 17, 2015: Fort Worth, TX: The Flying Musicians Association announces the creation of the FMA Solo Scholarship Award program. The lucky recipients will receive scholarships that will pay for their primary flight training, through their first solo. In cooperation with FMA’s corporate members and sponsors nationwide, this program will fund four scholarships to juniors or seniors in high school who have been nominated by their band/music director.
FMA recognizes that so many skills are held in common between pilots and musicians (such as paying attention to a complex environment, reacting to unusual occurrences, utilizing complex inputs and resources, and managing several tasks simultaneously) and so is coordinating a program for young musicians who want to be pilots.
The process is simple. An aviation-enthusiastic junior or senior who is a high school band member is screened and then partnered, through FMA, with a local flight school in our network. These schools specialize in training beginning pilots and have joined the FMA Bandwagon.
When the student has passed the flight physical, ab initio training takes the student through first solo. Then, the participating flight school will be reimbursed by FMA for up to fifteen hours of ground and dual instruction provided.
FMA corporate members and sponsors will also assist the student with free and reduced-cost training materials. Sporty’s Pilot Shop, for one, has already committed to donating four Learn to Fly courses.
For details and application materials, high school band directors should contact [email protected]. Help spread the word to your high school!
About the Flying Musicians Association, Inc:
The Flying Musicians Association (FMA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization of pilots who are musicians, spanning the globe, proficiency levels and genres. The goal is to share our passions in order to inspire, educate, and encourage others by creating enthusiasm and promoting personal growth in aviation and music. “Pilot Musicians sharing their passion while encouraging and educating youth (& adults) in the science and art of aeronautics and music.”
More: www.FlyingMusicians.org
