The Able Flight Class of 2017 will receive their wings at a pinning ceremony on Tuesday, July 25, at 10 a.m. at EAA AirVenture.
Special guests include Aviation Hall of Fame inductee Patty Wagstaff.
This year’s pilots include a veteran wounded in combat, several pilots who were paralyzed due to accidents, a young woman who is a diabetic, and a young man who is deaf.
The 2017 pilots are Melissa Allensworth of California, Benedict Jones of Indiana, Kunho Kim of Massachusetts, Captain Ferris Butler, U.S. Army (retired) of Maryland, Chris Corsi and Brice Lott of North Carolina, Kathryn Brenner of Illinois, and Zackary Kukorlo of Washington.
Six of the pilots will also be honored individually as recipients of scholarships provided by Bombardier, ForeFlight, Lockheed Martin, Jet Aviation, Shell Aviation and Tempest.
2017 marks the first year of the expansion of the program to Ohio State University where two Able Flight pilots were trained.
Now in its 11th year of providing full-ride flight training scholarships and mentoring for people with physical disabilities, Able Flight has 60 licensed pilots, including several who have earned multiple pilot certificates.