The North Dakota Aviation Association (NDAA) awarded more than $13,000 in scholarships at its 2022 Fly-ND Conference.
During the conference, held Oct. 6 at the Fargo Air Museum, officials presented scholarships to 11 high school juniors, seniors, and recent GED recipients who plan to pursue advanced education in aviation.
The conference also included the Fly-ND Career Expo, which hosted more than 170 students from all over the state.
In 2022, NDAA was recognized by the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) as recipient of the Outstanding Excellence by a Local or Regional Group Award. NDAA was recognized for its work in redefining the association’s mission for promoting aviation in the state of North Dakota, the success in implementing aviation career expos and the aviation scholarship program, as well as the outreach and events held throughout the year to engage students interested in this field, according to NDAA officials.
Next year’s event will take place in the fall of 2023 at the Dakota Territory Air Museum in Minot.
Good news, yes … but begs the question: How far does $13k go, shared by close to a dozen students? It comes down to the excessive price of learning to fly in a flight school or university setting. As a seasoned 70 year-old CFI living out in the hinterland of North Dakota (if they were willing to come out here and train in my 60 year-old C-150), I’d get them to solo in 15 hours — that’s 15 (or maybe less) times $150 — I’m sure they can do the math.