Clay Simmons, a 22-year old aircraft builder and pilot based in Knoxville, Tennessee, is the winner of the sixth annual Richard L. Collins Writing Prize for Young Pilots.
His article, “Blister Flight: Six Pilots and an Angel,” was selected as the entry that best answered this year’s writing prompt: “My Most Memorable Flight.”
Simmons’s article describes a lifelong love of aviation, his desire to be the world’s youngest aircraft builder, and his emotional journey to his most memorable flight.
Simmons recounts growing up flying in the backseat of his father’s Cub in the Idaho backcountry and serving as the unofficial tower controller. It was during a gathering around a campfire at Johnson Creek — a grass strip in central Idaho — that he pledged to be the world’s youngest aircraft builder. He goes on to share details of an airplane accident that nearly claimed the life of his father in 2018 and how that event helped to define him as an aviator.
Air Facts Editor in Chief and Sporty’s President John Zimmerman awarded Simmons the $5,000 prize to encourage his aviation and writing pursuits, and the winning article was published in Air Facts.
Simmons is currently a sales associate with the aircraft brokerage firm Aerista and flies his Carbon Cub.
This year’s contest also offered a second prize, which was awarded to Joseph Cummins of Minneapolis, Minnesota, for his article, “My First Oshkosh.”
Cummins describes an early morning departure with his friends in their Piper Archer in July 2023 for an action-packed flight to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. After an unforgettable day, meeting new people and enjoying the show, Cummins and his friends enjoyed a sunset flight home. Cummins was awarded $2,500, and his article also was published in Air Facts.
The Richard L. Collins Writing Prize for Young Pilots is funded through royalties from Collins’s book sales and is augmented by contributions from his children, Richard, Jr. (who also was one of the judges), Sarah, and Charlotte.
Air Facts began publication in 1938, edited by Richard’s father, Leighton Collins, and the magazine was a starting point for authors such as Wolfgang Langewiesche, Bob Buck, Bill Mauldin, and Richard Bach. Sporty’s relaunched Air Facts as an online magazine in 2011.
Read the first place winning story here and the second place winning story here.
For more information: AirFactsJournal.com