Bill Kimble Flight Scholarship

Announcement 2010

 The Green Castle Aero Club and its members would like to welcome candidates to apply for the Bill Kimble Flight Training Scholarship.  We offer this scholarship periodically to honor the memory of Bill Kimble, one of our founding members, by awarding the chance to earn a pilot’s license to a deserving young person.  The ideal candidate is a young man or woman hoping to begin a career in aviation.  Past graduates have gone on to become airline pilots, military pilots and air traffic controllers.  For selected individuals who enter the scholarship program and continue to meet the scholarship requirements the Aero Club will pay for flight lessons at Green Castle and associated expenses.   For an individual starting with no previous training, the value of this award could be as high as $4000. 

Continuation of the scholarship is subject to maintaining adequate progress towards a license and following club rules.  Barring unusual circumstances, we would expect a candidate to have passed both their written and practical tests and obtain their private pilot’s license within six months of receiving an award.  The Committee reserves the right to terminate a scholarship award in those exceptional situations where it is felt, in our judgment, that an award recipient is making insufficient progress towards obtaining a pilot’s license or otherwise violating the conditions of the scholarship. 

Scholarship awards will be based primarily on the Scholarship Committee’s assessment of an applicant’s desire to fly, interest in a flying career, and general level of maturity.  We are basing our decisions on direct contact with the applicant through interview and possibly through a preliminary flight.  Necessarily, we will also consider various practical details such as parental support, driving distance to the airport, (No transportation to and from the airport is provided.) and competing interests. 

Earning a pilot’s license typically requires an average of 45 hours of flight time, considerable ground school training, either formal or informal, and a fair amount of study on your own time.  The amount of time and energy is easily equal to a part-time job.  Putting in the flying time to learn the necessary physical skills requires staying in contact with your instructor and being willing to be flexible.  Weather can always end up forcing the rescheduling of a planned flight.  If you are not willing to reschedule job hours, say no to your friends or make similar sacrifices you can easily find yourself going weeks without flying.  Most students find that the skills of flying are far more readily acquired with regular and frequent practice.  Gaining the knowledge to pass the written test (administered by the FAA) also requires perseverance.  It does not require a straight A student, but it does require more than rudimentary skill with math, language and reasoning.  The instructors at Greencastle, unlike many of your public school teachers or your parents, will not nag you very often to do these things.  We expect a mature and motivated student to seek the training and knowledge they need to move ahead. 

The Greencastle Aero Club is an ideal place to undertake the sometimes arduous but exciting task of learning to fly.  The club is located at Nelson Field, on F 28 about five miles west of North Liberty.  We have nearly 200 members with a wide range of experience.  We have a number of active certified flight instructors (CFI’s as we call them.)  Formal and informal instruction and advice are there for the asking.  You and your family are welcome to visit us at one of our meetings (most Wednesday nights at 6:30 PM) or whenever you are free.  (If you just want to drop by you might want to call first.  We do not have permanent office staff.)  Our phone number is 319-545-2101.  Our website: is http://www.greencastle-aeroclub.com/index.htm.  You may also contact Scholarship Committee chairman James Beeghly at 319-339-7558 (home), 319-330-1038 (cell) or jbeeghly@earthlink.net.


Eligibility:  Applicants must be US citizens.  The Greencastle Aero Club does not discriminate based on race, creed or sex.  Although it is anticipated that many candidates will come from families already belonging to the Aero Club, no special consideration is given to such applicants.  You must intend to remain in the area (close enough to come to the airport weekly) until you have obtained your license. 

Age:  You must be at least 16 and no more than 18 by the time you begin training.  High school seniors and others who plan to leave the area in the fall may apply, but should recognize that some preference is given to those who have another year of school remaining.

Legal:  You must be free of alcohol or drug-related offenses for at least a year before the application.  We also expect a scholarship recipient to remain free of such offenses during training. 

Medical:  An applicant must be able to pass the flight physical (and will be expected to do so at his or her own expense before beginning training)

Parental Approval for Minors:  For both legal and philosophical reasons we require signed permission of the parent(s)/guardian(s) of any minor before starting flying lessons. 

Membership in Green Castle Aero Club:  To use club airplanes the scholarship recipient must become a member of Green Castle Aero Club, LTD.  If the recipient is a minor, his or her immediate family members are also included in the membership.  There is no membership charge while the scholarship recipient is in training supported by the scholarship.  Once the scholarship is completed, the scholarship recipient becomes an ordinary club member and is subject to monthly dues.

Scholarship paid expenses:

Flight Instruction up to a maximum of 45 hours (airplane rental and flight instructor time)

Cost of approved instructional materials

Cost of taking the written test (one time only)

Cost of the check ride (one time only) required to obtain a private pilot’s license. 

Expenses YOU pay:

Cost of flight physical (typically $80 - $120.)

Cost of transportation to and from lessons.

Cost of purchasing any optional materials such as a headset (the Club has “loaners.”)

Cost of repeat written test or repeat check ride if required.

COST OF ANY INSTRUCTION OR FLYING BEYOND 45 HOURS.

Miscellaneous:  All instruction will be in Aero Club airplanes and be given by Aero Club approved instructors.  Awarding and maintaining the scholarship are solely the prerogatives of the Greencastle Aero Club.  If you are offered and accept this scholarship we expect you to work hard and do your best to progress through training to earning a pilot’s license.

Applications should be sent by April 30, 2010 to:

Flight-Training Scholarship

Attn: James Beeghly

718 Camp Cardinal Blvd

Coralville, Iowa 52241