Aviation has long been considered the domain of the financially sound older generation. Hastings District Flying Club aims to dispel that myth with eight teenagers presently undergoing pilot training. Cost effective Light Sport Aircraft operated under the control of Recreational Aviation Australia means a return to more affordable recreational flying to pilots of all ages.

Eligible applicants will be aged between fifteen and twenty. Flying training can commence at fifteen years of age. A previous recipient, Mitchell Paterson, recently went solo on his sixteenth birthday.

Eighteen scholarships have been awarded over the last eight years. Of these about thirty percent are now involved in commercial aviation. The very first recipient, Jimi Ludriks, is now flying a Boeing 747 with Cathay Pacific Airlines.

Full details of the scholarships can be found on the club website www.hdfc.com.au or from your school careers advisor. Applications close on the 22nd August, 2014.