Mon, Jul 19, 2010
Chris Spaur And Heather Schultz Were "Immersed" In Aviation At
Purdue University
Two new Able Flight pilots will get their wings in a ceremony at
EAA AirVenture. Family, friends and special guests will be there to
honor the two pilots who took part in a special Purdue
University/Able Flight joint training project this summer. During
June and July, Chris Spaur of California and Heather Schultz of New
Jersey "lived aviation full time" in an intensive program at the
Purdue University Airport where they were taught by university
instructors while living in university housing.
Heather Schultz
Heather sustained a C5 spinal cord injury in a diving accident
in 2006. Since then, she has faced more than three years of
intensive physical therapy and has defied the predictions of
doctors who had told her she would never walk again. Heather's
training was made possible through her selection as the 2010
recipient of the "Jet Aviation Scholarship".
Chris is a 20 year-old with muscular dystrophy. He's one of
triplets, and shares the condition with a sister. He comes from a
family with a tradition of flying as both his mother and his uncle
are pilots. Chris was selected by Able Flight as the recipient of
Able Flight's "Bombardier Scholarship" for 2010.
Chris Spaur
The unique collaboration between Purdue University's Department
of Aviation Technology and Able Flight offered the scholarship
recipients the opportunity to learn to fly in a university setting,
and provided the university the opportunity to expand their
outreach to flight students with physical disabilities, and to be
exposed to Sport Pilot training in Light Sport Aircraft.
Special guests at the ceremony will include representatives of
Purdue's Department of Aviation Technology, Bombardier and Jet
Aviation, and Able Flight pilots Jessica Cox and Sean O'Donnell.
Jessica's remarkable and inspiring story of learning to fly using
only her feet is well known in the aviation community, and Sean was
the second AF pilot to earn a license, and is the founder of Philly
Sport Pilot, a flight school that provides training to students
with and without disabilities.
The ceremony will be held at 1030 on Wednesday, July 28th in
AeroShell Square.
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