http://www.vintageaircraftclub.org.uk> Liz Inwood Taildragger Scholarship
Liz Inwood Taildragger Scholarship
Liz Inwood Taildragger Scholarship 2022 winner announced.
The Vintage Aircraft Club are pleased to announce the name of the 2022 awardee for our annual Liz Inwood Taildragger Scholarship. Toby Hudson, aged 25, was selected from this year's candidates by the award panel, and presented with the award at the Light Aircraft Association's Grass Roots Fly-In at Popham. This is the seventh year the annual award of £750 has been given to go towards the training of a pilot, under 35 years old, to transition from flying a nosewheel aircraft to tailwheel heritage types. Toby says, "I'm extremely excited and honoured to have been awarded the Liz Inwood Taildragger Scholarship for this year. It has always been a lifelong dream to learn to fly vintage taildraggers. I can remember back to when I was a young boy, visiting airfields and museums with my grandad and looking at all the vintage aircraft, military and civilian, wishing one day I might be able to climb into one and take it flying. Presently, being based at Turweston Flying Club and seeing all the different taildraggers that visit daily, it's always remained a burning desire to want to get my tailwheel differences training, gaining these skills as a pilot and being able to join the tailwheel community. Not only this, but now being a Flight Instructor, I would be delighted to be able to put the scholarship to more than just personal use, continuing Liz Inwood's incredible legacy. This will allow me to teach others to learn to fly and enjoy the experience of vintage tailwheel aircraft with thanks to this incredible scholarship and the Vintage Aircraft Club." Anne Hughes (VAC Chair)
The VAC has been in existence for over 50 years, and currently has some 300 members who own and operate almost 200 classic and vintage aircraft. In common with many organisations today, the Vintage Aircraft Club is most conscious of a rapidly widening age gap in its membership. As the majority of our membership are either already at, or rapidly approaching, bus pass age, if our club is to thrive and survive, we recognize that not only must we attract new younger members, but must also hand on the skill sets required for these younger people to operate the older type of conventional undercarriage aircraft - or taildragger as they are more commonly known - since it must be recognized that nearly all training and recreational flying is carried out today on machines with the tricycle type undercarriage. We also have to accept that flying as a hobby is generally not a cheap sport, and that just staying current on type will strain the financial resource of most young people.
So how did the Scholarship come about? Liz Inwood, who unfortunately died in October 2013 after a long battle with cancer, was a passionate aviatrix with a tremendous sense of humour. Although originally trained as an artist, Liz was bitten by the aviation bug at an early age in the 1980s, and initially learned to fly at White Waltham. Every spare moment was spent flying, eventually amassing over 1,000 hours and she became both an instructor and CAA examiner. Primarily based at Oxford (Kidlington) she was also madly keen on the older classic aircraft, particularly the de Havilland Tiger Moth and similar types, once making a tour of Europe in a DH Hornet Moth. Liz was an inspiration to many fledgling pilots and was particularly enthusiastic in encouraging younger people to take up the sport. After her untimely death some of her family members decided to give a legacy to the VAC, of which she was a long-time active member, to be used as the Club saw fit. To this end the Club decided to match the family's generous donation and set up this Scholarship in her memory. The purpose now is to enable a young person to fly the type of aircraft she loved so much. After much scrimping and saving, begging and badgering, by the end of 2015 the Club accumulated sufficient funds to ensure that this could be not just a single event, but an ongoing award. In May 2016 the Club launched its first invitations through the GA press for young people to apply for the 2016 Scholarship.
The applicant must be the holder of a current PPL, NPPL or LAPL, 35 years old or less, with 100 hours total flying time of which at least 50 hours are as a pilot in command.
Applications for the 2022 Scholarship are now closed, but will re-open at the beginning of June 2023, so if you were unsuccessfull in 2022, you are welcome to apply by revisiting this page in June 2023.
