On Wednesday, January 7, 2015 at 4:51:10 PM UTC-7, V1 wrote:
A member of our soaring club (Soaring Club of Houston) asked the question below. Her son William is a 9th grader and soloed at our club in 2014. Very sharp and motivated kid. Appreciate any leads or suggestions, recognizing that this is slightly off-topic as it's not limited to soaring.
- Frank, SCOH (V1)

"Can anyone recommend an aviation summer camp (does not have to be in Texas) or summer experience for William? There are so many out there, but many are very basic. He's learned so much with SCOH and so much on his own that I don't want him to be bored. He has such a strong interest in aviation, especially helicopters, that I'm hoping to find something to further educate and motivate him. Any thoughts/ideas would be awesome!"

I believe William is 15. IMVHO, he should be working toward his check ride.. Furthermore, he should apply for a Bultman Youth Flight Scholarship if money is an issue Should he fly for his FAI Silver Badge or a Kolstad Century Award, he could apply for a Kolstad College Scholarship. He has several years of elibility. How could he be bored if properly mentored into the sport? I hope SCOH will get behind him and other youth. If William isn't interested, you have seven other youth members that maybe need some mentoring also. Actually 8 youth seems a bit low for a soaring organization with over 150 members. Have any of those that haven't soloed tried for a Cadet Youth Flight Scholarship? Psst, those other chapters eavesdropping, are you looking out for your youth? Really? WRT William, helicopters have too many moving parts anyway and are way out of reach for his age. A drone and a GoPro will have to do for now, I think. One of my best pals spent a few years flying rescue and recovery UH-1N Hueys at Vandyland in the USAF. I went on a training sortie with his crew many years ago. I thought the 2000ft spiral dive (reversing direction) was pretty cool. Most of the others didn't like riding in the side door position though as I got the jump seat.

Seriously, we have scholarships for your soaring youth. It's appalling how few applicants we entertain.

Frank Whiteley