High school graduates Connor Barnes and Tyler McCormack might have different career goals in mind, but the one thing they have in common is that they’re passionate about aeromodeling. [caption id="attachment_3361" align="alignright" width="300"]
Tyler McCormack (left) and Connor Barnes (right)[/caption] Connor of Mooresville, North Carolina, began flying RC Giant Scale aircraft when he was 11 years old, and Tyler, Sandown, New Hampshire, began when he was 10. Both attended the RC Scale Aerobatics Nats this year. Connor was judging and Tyler was competing in the event. They seemed to be having fun at the event, held at the International Aeromodeling Center, Muncie, Indiana. Connor and Tyler said that they plan to continue flying. Tyler plans to fly model aircraft at night, but Connor hopes to fly something much larger while studying commercial aviation and unmanned aircraft systems at University of North Dakota. Tyler’s scholarship of $9,500 is helping pay for his education at Northern Essex Community College, where he is studying computer sciences and information technology. After graduation, he hopes to get a job in that field. “It’s gonna help out a lot the first two years,” he said of the scholarship money. Some of Tyler’s aeromodeling friends told him about the AMA scholarship program and he decided to apply. “I was fairly surprised about the amount. I was shocked,” he commented. It was clear that Connor also felt fortunate to receive an AMA scholarship. “It means a lot being [selected]. I know I have the support of AMA and it shows that they really care about the future,” he said. “It’s very nice of [AMA]. An aviation career is really expensive. It’s not the tuition but it’s the flight costs. For a year it’s about $20,000 on top of the tuition.” Connor, who received a $2,000 scholarship, had some advice for other prospective college students who are considering applying for an AMA scholarship. “It never hurts to apply for them. It’s always worth a shot because you never know how many will apply.” On the subject of applying, high school seniors can now apply for 2017 AMA scholarships. The link to the scholarship application is available at amaflightschool.org/ama-scholarships and applications are due by February 1, 2017.
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