David Ross of Afton, Tennessee, is the first recipient of a $2,500 scholarship awarded through his membership in the Sporty’s Flight Crew program. Dave plans to put this money toward an instrument rating.
Sporty’s Flight Crew is a three-level customer benefit program that rewards customers with access to training programs, unlimited free shipping, an on-call personal Sporty’s shopper, and more. The top two levels — gold and platinum — include the opportunity to apply for this $2,500 scholarship.
Dave says that airplanes have fascinated him since age 8. He worked as a lineman at Allegheny County Airport (KAGC) during college. He earned his private pilot’s license in 1977 and hoped to become more involved in aviation but, like many pilots, Dave says, “Life took me on another path and I slipped away from flying.”
Now he is pursuing an instrument rating as the first step in becoming a flight instructor.
“Dave never lost his passion for flying, but he essentially became a rusty pilot,” says Sporty’s Vice President John Zimmerman. “But now he has the time and the wherewithal to pursue his passion. Welcome back to the general aviation community, Dave!”
Dave is both an Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) member and serves as the vice president of the EAA chapter in Greeneville, Tennessee.
His hopes are that his two sons will learn to fly, and he will be their flight instructor, he says, “to carry on the aviation interest in our family that began with me.”
The second Sporty’s Flight Crew scholarship will be awarded in December 2018.