August 10, 2006

Longtime Cessna Affiliate will also mark 60th Anniversary with Scholarship Presentation at Wichita Flight Festival Friday Evening Concert

 

Wichita, KS—August 10, 2006—Yingling Aviation, Inc. will host a free Fly-In Breakfast at Colonel James M. Jabara Airport in Wichita on August 27, 2006, as part of the Wichita Flight Festival. World-famous aerobatic performers Patty Wagstaff, Gene Soucy, Kyle Franklin, Matt Younkin and others appearing at the Wichita Flight Festival have been invited to participate. The event will kick off the final day of the annual Wichita Flight Festival with breakfast provided being served between 9:00 AM and 10:30 AM adjacent to the transient aircraft parking ramp at the north end of the airport. Gates will open to the general public at 11:00 AM.

“We are once again pleased to be participating in the Wichita Flight Festival and to give members of the aviation community an opportunity to ‘rub elbows’ with the world’s greatest stunt pilots at this Fly-In breakfast,” noted Lynn Nichols, president of Yingling Aviation.  “We hope that this event will become a tradition for pilots and aviation enthusiasts from around the state.  It will not only celebrate our state’s great aviation heritage, this year it will provide us with a chance to mark our 60th anniversary, as well,”  he added.  Yingling will display a 1946 Cessna 140 as part of the festivities.

Aviators wishing to participate in the Fly-In Breakfast will be permitted to land at Jabara throughout the morning, prior to the beginning of the day’s aerobatic performances.  Parking space will be available in the grass area north of the breakfast area, according to Wichita Flight Festival General Chairman Dave Carter.   “This breakfast is an especially attractive variation on the famous ‘one hundred dollar hamburger’ that pilots often enjoy, but instead of having to pay for the food, it’s being provided by Yingling.  The added bonus is a world class air show after breakfast from 1-4 p.m.  Flight Festival tickets for Saturday and Sunday are $5.00 per person per day and children under 10 are free,” he pointed out.

 

Scholarships To Be Awarded

Two days before the Fly-In breakfast, Yingling, Cessna Aircraft Company and B-98 FM plan to announce the winners of the second annual High School “Be A Pilot” Flight Training Scholarship prior to the Flight Festival’s Friday evening air show.  Two finalists who drafted essays on “Why Learning To Fly Is Important To Me”  will each be presented with a scholarship for up to 60 hours of dual flight instruction towards a private pilot’s license.

Nichols emphasized that Yingling, which has been affiliated with Cessna Aircraft Company longer than any other fixed base operator, has expanded the Flight Training Scholarship program it inaugurated last year.  “We will offer two scholarships this year.  Both will be for 60 hours of instruction—enough to allow the winners to earn a private pilot’s license.  And, once again, Yingling and Cessna will provide the aircraft and fuel, Cessna will cover the expense of the Cessna Pilot Center flight training curriculum, Kirby Ortega, the 2002 FAA Flight Instructor of the Year, will provide the instruction and Dr. Lawrence Lay, an FAA certified Flight Surgeon and Examiner has again offered both the required flight physical and the FAA check ride at no cost,” he said.

To qualify, participants in the High School “Be A Pilot” Scholarship contest had to compose an essay of between 300 and 500 words on why learning to fly was important to them.  They also had to be at  least 16 years of age before July 31, 2006, a junior or senior in high school with at least a 3.0 grade point average, and be able to obtain a Third Class Medical certificate.

The Wichita Flight Festival is scheduled for August 25-27 at Colonel James A. Jabara Airport in Wichita. In addition to a Friday evening concert and air show, the festival will feature aerobatic performances as well as static displays of warbirds, historic, recreational, new and public safety aircraft, a gallery of Kansas aviation history, a “fly market” and entertainment and educational activities for the entire family.  The Festival is sponsored by the City of Wichita and produced by Wichita Festivals, Inc.