HAYWARD, California — Organizers of the 60th Hayward Air Rally have selected the winners of the rally’s 2024 Ray Hazel Memorial Scholarship.
Listed on the GoingMerry.com platform, the scholarship’s goal is to encourage careers in the aviation industry and cultivate the next generation of aviators, according to organizers.
Applicants were required to come from the Hayward Bay Area and demonstrate active involvement and career goals in aviation.
Scholarship Winners
Daniel Bolanos of Union City, California, graduated last year from Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward and is an aerospace engineering student at San Jose State University.
He grew up surrounded by aviation, seeing his father work on jet engines at San Francisco International Airport, going on many EAA Young Eagles flights, and participating with the Hayward airport’s Civil Air Patrol Squadron.
His goal since childhood has been to become a pilot. Daniel was awarded $2,500 to use for flight training.
Landon Abrar of San Jose graduated last year from Agoura High School and is a student at San Jose State University majoring in aviation management, with a business minor.
Airplanes have fascinated him since he was a young child, with the business side of the industry being his ultimate calling. His career goal is to work for an airline in route management.
Landon was awarded $1,000 for use towards his college expenses.
Returning Winners
From 2010 to 2022, the Hayward Air Rally provided full airfare and camp tuition scholarships to the EAA Air Academy for students from the San Francisco Bay Area and rally destinations.
Zhidao Leeroybruce, a 2019 winner of the Air Academy scholarship, returned this year to compete for the first time in the rally. Hailing from Ukiah, he is working his way up the ladder of pilot certificates and ratings, aiming for a piloting career.
Due to increasing costs and logistical challenges administering the camp scholarship, that program was suspended in favor of the current monetary scholarship.
Tram Do of San Jose was one of two inaugural winners of the new scholarship introduced in 2023. Tram has since received her private pilot certificate and instrument rating, recently graduated from San Jose State University, and works for NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System.
The new scholarship is named in memory of Ray Hazel, a participant and volunteer with the Hayward Air Rally for more than 30 years. He first flew as a passenger in 1988, then as navigator from 1998 to 2005, winning the event in 2001. Since then, he was the rally’s veteran timing line official until his passing in early 2023.
Funding for the scholarship comes from rally entrant fees and sponsor donations and in large part from the city of Hayward, organizers noted.
About the Rally
The Hayward Air Rally is the longest continually held proficiency flying event in North America. Having grown out of a personal challenge between Hayward city officials in 1965, the rally has now been flying for 60 years. It is staged by The Hayward Air Rally, Inc., a not-for-profit public benefit corporation, with IRS 501(c)(3) status. The rally’s primary charter is to enhance general aviation safety by encouraging pilots to stay proficient in basic flight and fuel management techniques. The 2024 rally was held May 18.
For more information: HwdAirRally.org
Congratulations to all the scholarship recipients. Wonderful additions to our aviation world community.
Nice indeed to see a female recipient. I always check on that because of the many scholarships in aviation awarded, women recipients are few in number.
So, Tram Do, congratulations on receiving that scholarship and earning your private pilot certificate and instrument rating. And your job at NASA.
Ann Holtgren Pellegreno