Give Charlie Wings

If you’ve known me for any amount of time, you know it’s my passion to become a fighter pilot in the Air Force. I can maximize my competitiveness to earn a pilot slot out of ROTC by flying at least 60 hours on my own. My goal is to obtain 60 flight hours by the end of the August and I have already earned 10.5 hours toward this.

This is where I need your help: To fund the 50 hours, I’ll need a total of $9,210.

Here’s the breakdown:

Sport pilot license (10 more hours needed):

$170 for the aircraft + $75 for the instructor = $245 per hour

$245 per hour x 10 hours for license = $2,450

Remaining 40 hours:

$169 for the aircraft per hour

$169 x 40 = $6,760 per hour

Total for all remaining 50 hours: $9,210

The Air Force looks at 5 categories when selecting candidates for flight school: GPA, commander’s rank (which depends on my ROTC performance), Physical Fitness Scores, and number of flight hours. I am working hard to maximize my chances in all of these categories. Each ROTC year so far I have ranked #1 out of my class and have earned a perfect score on my Physical Fitness Assessment.

For flight hours, there are several categories you can fall into: 1-5, 6-10, 11-20, 21-40, and 41-60. That’s why I’m aiming for at least 60 hours, to max out that particular category. Any additional flying time will increase my score, so every contribution helps me.

You’ll notice that I need an instructor for the first ten hours. Those are the hours remaining needed to get a sport pilot license (the 10.5 flight hours I already have count toward the roughly 20 hours needed for this license). Once I have that license, I can fly on my own and only need help funding the cost of renting the aircraft.

If you fund me, I will send you regular updates tracking the hours I have completed.

I am extremely grateful to you for helping me make this dream possible. I want to serve my country in this way and this significantly increases my chances of standing out in this highly competitive field.