It’s the start of a new year, but the stories keep coming! In this installment of the Ray Scholar Stories Series, we hear from another group of pilots as they share their Ray Scholar journeys with us. We hope you are enjoying these stories and can help spread them around to hopefully inspire others who long to start a life in aviation. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Samuel Ramsby
I have always been interested in aviation but what really got me started was my first few Young Eagles flights. Bruce Erickson became my flight instructor and during my training he told me I might have a chance at a scholarship. We applied for a few different programs, but you guys stepped up to the plate. Finishing my PPL was challenging but that was only because I didn’t study enough. Because of this I always recommend studying about 30 minutes each day and quizzing yourself at the end of each study session. Ever since I completed my private pilot, I have been looking for a job in aviation. Finally, this summer, I was hired by West Star Aviation and I am to begin working soon!
Michael Zielinksi
Back in 2014 I graduated from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. My first merit badge was Aviation and I loved it, though even then I knew that I likely would never have the money to get my own pilot license. Fast forward a few years to 2019 and I’m now an Eagle Scout done with Boy Scouts but now involved heavily in Civil Air Patrol.
My dad had maintained his connection with Ray Aten to help our old scout troop keep doing the Aviation badge and that’s where Ray heard about me still being involved in aviation. He approached me one day and asked how much I’d like to get my pilot license. Of course, I told him I’d love to, but I just didn’t have the resources. This was when he pitched the Ray Aviation Scholarship to me, and I applied that same night. I was lucky enough to receive the scholarship and completed my license at the end of the summer in 2020. Since then, it has been my goal to get my commercial license and fly for a career. Unfortunately, I’ve been severely limited by costs and haven’t made much progress, but once I graduate with my Mechanical Engineering degree, I hope to use that to make money to find flying and once I have my license I hope to use it plus my experience in wildland fire to land a position flying for fire with the end career goal of flying retardant tankers.
This dream wouldn’t have been even a thought had I not received the Ray Aviation Scholarship and gotten my PPL. I am eternally grateful to the EAA as a whole, Chapter 517, Ray Aten, and Lightspeed for helping this become a reality of mine. My advice to future scholars? Don’t stop here. Keep scheming and keep planning ways to get farther into aviation. If you want it bad enough and work hard enough, it will come to fruition.
Lucia Crete
When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” ~ Leonardo DaVinci
Ever since I was little, I have always been fascinated by airplanes. I would be so curious how a massive jet just effortlessly floated through the sky. It all started in 2019 when my parents and I went on a trip to Ireland, on the way back I mentioned to one of the flight attendants that I was interested in working in the aviation industry specifically as a flight attendant. Once we landed, and everybody got out of the plane, I was still talking to the crew about my dreams in aviation, during the conversation the captain came over to me and asked if I would like to sit in the left seat of the jet. I was hesitant at first, but after a little convincing, I happily took advantage of the opportunity.
The moment I sat down I knew this was what I was meant to do. After about two weeks of thinking and praying about a career as a pilot, I decided I was ready to tell my parents. I told them on a Saturday morning and by Sunday afternoon they were driving me to the local airport. The moment I walked in, I was greeted by some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Everybody was so excited to show me the planes, and it was there I met the female pilot who took me up on my discovery flight and to this day is still my CFI and very good friend. I remember feeling so relieved to see another female in aviation and was so happy that I would get to fly with her.
I was absolutely terrified at first but once we took off it was the most amazing feeling I’ve ever felt, some would say it was love at first flight. At the time I was only 14 and was very committed to my professional dance company. I made the decision to wait until I graduated high school to start my flight training and I’m very happy I did because it was a lot of work. Through that time, I still stayed very connected to aviation. I regularly visited the airport, talked to other pilots, and even took a couple of fights here and there.
In September 2021 my parents and I attended the Simsbury airshow, and it was there I met an amazing female pilot who is part of the Ninety-Nines and a member of EAA as well. She encouraged me to join the local EAA chapter and apply for the Ray Scholarship. In this chapter, I met wonderful people who have done nothing but encourage me and support my dreams of being a pilot and possibly an airline pilot one day. I learned that, even if I did not get the scholarship, I was still so incredibly grateful to be part of such an amazing group of people. I was blessed to have received the scholarship and to this day am so thankful for the opportunity I have been given.
After about nine months of flight training, I passed my check ride and got my private pilot’s license! Thanks to my amazing flight instructor I was given the opportunity to fly a Piper Arrow 200 and fly to amazing places, such as Logan Boston, LaGuardia, and even all the way up to Aroostook Maine. In those nine months, I have learned so much not only academically, but many important life lessons as well. It would not have been possible without the support of EAA, my flight instructor, and my amazing parents. Both of them have sacrificed so much for me, and I am so incredibly grateful for all of the hard work that they have done so I am able to live my dream. That Saturday morning, I told my parents I wanted to be a pilot, my dad told me that he had the same dream when he was my age but was unable to pursue it due to certain circumstances. He worked so incredibly hard his whole life but not for himself. He does it for my mom and me, so I am able to take any opportunity that comes my way, such as obtaining a pilot’s license at 18 years old. My mom also became a stay-at-home mom so that I could have a better education and be able to do anything I want to do in life. Both of them poured so much into me and I can’t wait to take them up flying soon; it will be my way of saying thank you.
To anyone who has a dream of flying and becoming a pilot my best advice to you is this, go for it. It takes a rare and unique type of person to want to fly and you have been given that gift, so use it. Remember to always trust the process, accept the setbacks because they are always blessings in disguise. Be thankful for having the opportunity to fly, connect with other pilots and flight clubs because aviation is all about connections, and always take lots of pictures since it is such a special journey that is so individual for each person and you will want to remember every moment of it! Thank you again to everyone who made my journey possible and thank you EAA for giving me the opportunity to tell my aviation story!
Richard Green
From when I was a small child, I was interested in all things that fly in the air and in space. I was also interested in becoming an aerospace engineer (though that has changed at this point) and thus getting a Pilot’s License was both something I wanted and something that would quite help me.
Inspired isn’t necessarily the right term for it, but when the Ray Scholarships were announced, the members of my EAA chapter all encouraged me to apply and were themselves quite dedicated to getting the chapter approved for it.
At this point my plans are a bit up in the air, pardon the pun. The unfortunate thing about flying is that once you no longer have a generous scholarship paying for it it’s very difficult to afford on a student’s budget! Once I have an actual job, I would like to get back into flying with Civil Air Patrol to help assist with search & rescue and disaster relief efforts, though that’ll require quite a few more hours than I have at the moment.
My advice to anyone interested in following in my footsteps is to get the folks in your EAA chapter in your corner! I had the advantage of being the only young person in the meetings and therefore being the kid of the chapter. More than that, showing up to help the chapter whenever they do things does a lot to put you in their good graces – Young Eagles events, pancake breakfasts, all that good stuff.
Kate Michael
My aviation adventure all started the summer of 2020. My interest in aviation all started when my neighbor moved in and got to know my family. We found out he was a pilot and offered to take me for my first ride! Ever since then I have been hooked. I then began flight training in the summer. I then joined our local chapter and earned their scholarship. After receiving that scholarship, I sat down with my scholarship coordinator, and he recommended that I go for the Ray Scholarship. So, I put my best foot forward and applied the work and I got the scholarship. It has helped me get further in my training and finally finish getting my PPL. My aviation path will continue at K-State this August and that will open the door for so many opportunities to get to the place I would like to be. My dreams are to go corporate and hopefully the airlines! It was not easy getting to this spot. I know a lot of kids who are starting to get into aviation, and I am trying to be someone they can look up to and come to for help. I want them to know help is always available and that if you see an opportunity, go out and get it. You will have your bad days, which is okay. I always tell them to keep their head up and not let it ruin their outlook on it. I tell them that all pilots started somewhere and that they will get it in no time!
Emma Fuchs
Entering my first semester of college, I was unsure what I wanted to study. I felt internally a strong necessity to delve into action, create challenges, and to maximize the creation of opportunities to learn about myself to the furthest extent that I could. In the middle of wrestling with studying music, maybe going into business, and not knowing how to direct my life after college considering what earning a degree in either of these fields would look like. I heard a voice in the back of my head pushing me towards joining the military to find that action-oriented lifestyle of challenge and adventure that I felt I needed. Not just military—I felt my route would have to involve the pursuit of flying, of becoming a pilot, and to explore the world through the incredible lens that is obtainable only through the unique experience of flying over our Earth.
So, I took the strides to enroll myself in Marine Corps OCS, and went to the two local airports to ask if anyone on the field could use a “wrench-holder” or someone to mop hangar floors. I met dozens of incredible people and got a job working at an aircraft maintenance shop where I got to meet all of the local clients. I was then encouraged to apply to the local EAA scholarship program! I was handed a scribbled email on a card, thought “what the heck,” sent an email, waited for a response. I was 19 years old, at the tail end of eligibility for the Ray Aviation scholarship program. I never thought ever, never EVER that I would be chosen to have the responsibility to carry out my flight training with the immense support of such an incredible foundation, the EAA, and the many amazing, supportive, caring, people that helped me and continue to do so that have shown me, truly, what it is to have a heart of gold and a spirit of pure generosity.
Seven months later, I was able to finish my private pilot’s license. This was in the middle of my sophomore year of college, where I decided to pursue a degree in aerospace engineering. Two years later, in May 2023, I graduated with my undergrad and find myself where I am now, about to start a job with NAVSEA out of Bremerton, Washington as a mechanical engineer working on aircraft carriers for the Navy. I have been the president of a flight club for the past two years that myself, three other women, and our mentor have formed with the airplane that he donated for the formation of our club. We call ourselves the “Fair Weather Flying Club,” and charge $30 an hour for the use of our little Aerospool WT-9 Dynamic to make continued proficiency and growth attainable for young, aspiring pilots in our situations. I’ve earned nearly 150 hours in my two and a half years of flying and have every intention to continue in my training endeavors.
I love flying! I’m not sure if I will be able to turn it into a career, but I aspire to extend my training into helicopters, and maybe, someday, start flying fire support for the Forest Service, for Search and Rescue missions, or doing herding, research, and population count flights for Fish and Wildlife. Once I’ve started my new job with NAVSEA and have settled into the new area, I fully intend to start chipping away on my instrument rating, hopefully working up to my CFI. Then my task will be to find a reasonably priced helicopter school in the area… Military may still be in my future—maybe engineering isn’t for me—but we’ll take it a step at a time for now.
I’ve learned a lot in my flying adventures and school endeavors thus far. I feel like the most useful advice tends to resonate the most after you’ve gone in and learned the thing and gained the perspective that you didn’t have before. That is to say, we learn the most by battling through our own ignorance, uncomfortableness, and just tackling the new experiences regardless of fear we may be carrying—with courage. As a young, dumb, inexperienced person, the only way you will be able to know what you admire, respect, and who you want to become, will be through trying, being uncomfortable, being CONFIDENT in your ability to navigate your way through something new (even if it’s messy), and being absolutely so incredibly cool with failure. Failing again and again and again, because failure—suffering, pain, grinding through—is the only way in which we can really learn and grow.
I am infinitely thankful for the opportunities I have been privileged to have come my way, and continue to be able to encounter as I move down my path; Lightspeed has consistently been a ray of light in my email inbox, on the social media outlets that I catch glimpses of, and not to mention the headset I was gifted is by far one of the nicest things that I own. Thank you for the love and support! To much more growing and more adventures!
Stay tuned for more stories from these determined pilots. We have collected many more months’ worth of stories that we will share over the near future. Congratulations to all of these pilots and Blue Skies!
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