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 students will 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 will be 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.
The first
A&P Boot Camp attendees were announced at the NATA Annual Membership meeting and attended the inaugural class in September 2018, 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. Congratulations Nick and Alex!.
During the 2018 Reno Air Races, NATA Secretary-Treasurer Chuck Marshall was
interviewed by the Florida Aviation Network, during which he talked the scholarship program and getting young people involved in aviation.
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 candidates holding current A&P certificates will be considered for the annual award!
NATA Warbird Scholarship recipients:
2018 Nick Crofoot (Lansing, Michigan)
2018 Alex Rabbitt (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
2017 Shawn Patrick (to attend Baker School)
(View our A&P Scholarship Announcement presented at NWOC February 15, 2018, and our A&P Boot Camp announcement on July 9, 2018.)