Helping the Next Generation of Aviation Pioneers Achieve their Potential

Aviation has made spectacular advances and has contributed a great deal to the life of this country over the past century. However, it still faces significant challenges; for example, to reduce still further the impact on the environment. We need future generations of welleducated aerospace professionals who will tackle these ongoing challenges with the same drive and imagination as the early pioneers. The Royal Aeronautical Society is committed to encouraging and supporting education in aviation-related disciplines. In 2003, to mark the centenary of the Wright brothers’ first flight in the USA, we established a Scholarship Fund for this purpose. Thanks to the generosity of many individuals and organisations the Society has distributed almost £200,000 from the Fund to 75 teams and individuals up to the end of 2006.

To mark the centenary of powered flight in the UK in 2008 we aim to develop the Fund to focus more on ‘seed corn’ activities with younger, school-age students such as school projects and other enabling topics. We are considering establishing three named awards, awarded annually, to commemorate Samuel Cody, A.V. Roe and J.T.C. Moore-Brabazon. This additional fund-raising is being coordinated with efforts by the RAeS Foundation, the overall fund-raising body of the Society. 2008 offers a tremendous opportunity to promote aerospace careers. The Society will initiate a number of exciting projects on this theme involving young people andtheir teachers.