And while the scholarship doesn't cover all the cost, it is just the boost many have used to reach for the stars.
The scholarships pays most of the ground school costs, all except books, and the highest performing recipients from ground school become eligible for additional flight training funds.
Since the EAA began awarding aspiring aviators scholarships that average $300 for ground school and as much as $3,000 of the cost for flight school, more than 15 have earned their pilot's license, with several of them earning instrument, float plane, commercial and other advanced certificates.
One whose first taste of aviation came thanks to an EAA scholarship works now as an air traffic controller, another is flying the dream as a bush pilot in Alaska. Once someone with the dream gets underway, there are many avenues their interests can take them and many paths to advancement. One local scholarship winner parlayed that humble beginning into a career with NASA!
"Some potential applicants feel that the scholarship is not enough, as they still have to pay for half to two thirds of a license," said one of the EAA members who sits on the panel to select scholarship winners. "Our feeling there is that if they are not committed enough to spend the time and dollars, our scholarship would be wasted."
See the EAA web site www.757.eaachapter.org for application requirements.
Submit applications to EAA, in care of Northern Air, 64602 Highway 2, Boundary County Airport, Bonners Ferry 83805.