Able Flight Awards First Two Scholarships

A new scholarship program that helps people with disabilities learn to fly gave away its first two awards last week in Atlanta. Able Flight chose Brad Jones and Stephany Glassing to take part in an intensive and demanding flight-training program. “Able Flight’s goal is to challenge its scholarship winners so that their own achievements will help them become more self-reliant and confident in their abilities, said Executive Director Charles Stites. Jones, 22, was paralyzed in an automobile accident last summer. Glassing was also injured in an auto accident, 22 years ago, when she was a teenager. “Being in a chair instantaneously makes everyday life and events challenging,” said Jones. “The challenge of learning to fly will be a difficult one, but upon successfully completing the training, will bring a renewed sense that anything is possible, no matter what other challenges life might have for me in the future.”

A new scholarship program that helps people with disabilities learn to fly gave away its first two awards last week in Atlanta. Able Flight chose Brad Jones and Stephany Glassing to take part in an intensive and demanding flight-training program. "Able Flight's goal is to challenge its scholarship winners so that their own achievements will help them become more self-reliant and confident in their abilities, said Executive Director Charles Stites. Jones, 22, was paralyzed in an automobile accident last summer. Glassing was also injured in an auto accident, 22 years ago, when she was a teenager. "Being in a chair instantaneously makes everyday life and events challenging," said Jones. "The challenge of learning to fly will be a difficult one, but upon successfully completing the training, will bring a renewed sense that anything is possible, no matter what other challenges life might have for me in the future." Sponsors of the program include Jet Aviation, Hansen Air Group and the Shepherd Center, a catastrophic care hospital. "Able Flight epitomizes the true nature of aviation and we fully support its purpose of empowering people with the freedom of flight," said Robert Seidel, senior vice president and general manager of Jet Aviation Business Jets. The students will take a home-study course and about 20 to 25 hours of flight training under Sport Pilot rules.