Keeping our treasured, 60+ year-old warbirds flying for the enjoyment of future generations is our common goal, but continued access to knowledgable aircraft maintainers is a growing concern.
To encourage aspiring, young A&P's to become interested in maintaining warbirds, we announced our
Warbird A&P Scholarship program in February 2018. The Gordon Kibby Scholarship fund, which was made possible through a generous donation from the estate of NATA Member Gordon Kibby, has been merged with this fund.
In July 2018 we announced the next phase of our scholarship program:
A&P Boot Camp. Each year scholarship recipients undergo a week of intensive training covering warbird airframes and components,
radial engines, required maintenance and inspections, required tools, component vendors, and a variety of topics related to the
care and feeding of our warbirds. Student expenses are covered by a grant from the scholarship program, and the training will be conducted at a partnering maintenance facility that agrees to teach the agreed-to curriculum.
Recipients of awards to the second
A&P Boot Camp were announced at the July 2019 Annual Membership meeting (see below) and attended class in September 2019, led by NATA member Tom Hazel, a well-known warbird A&P / IA with a successful track record of mentoring A&P candidates and future pilots.
Please consider our
Warbird A&P Scholarship in your annual giving plan. Your contribution is tax deductible, and you may send a check or
visit the Donations page to contribute online.
Finally, if your maintenance facility has any rising stars you feel would be good candidates for our
Boot Camp, please send his or her information to
scholarship@flynata.org. All nominees holding current A&P certificates and working in aviation maintenance will be considered for the annual award!
NATA Warbird Scholarship recipients:
2019 Tyler Olson (Wisconsin)
2019 Jonathan Kalabich (Illinois)
2019 Brian Buell (Michigan)
2019 Rodgers Hunter (Texas)
2018 Nick Crofoot (Lansing, Michigan)
2018 Alex Rabbitt (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
2017 Shawn Patrick (Rockford, Illinois - attended Bakers School of Aeronautics)
(View our A&P Scholarship Announcement presented at NWOC February 15, 2018, and our A&P Boot Camp announcement on July 9, 2018. During the 2018 Reno Air Races, NATA Secretary-Treasurer Chuck Marshall was interviewed by the Florida Aviation Network, during which he talked about the scholarship program and getting young people involved in aviation.)