2006 Scholarship Recipients
Since 1970, the Academy of Model Aeronautics has provided scholarships to young men and women seeking to continue their education in colleges and universities. The primary awards are presented through the Charles Hampson Grant scholarships.
In 2006, eight individuals received a portion of the $40,000 Charles Hampson Grant awards. These monies came from a variety of sources including gifts, memorials, and the AMA general fund. The top winner of the Grant award also receives an award provided by the Toledo Weak Signals from monies generated from the club's annual trade show and exposition. This year the Weak Signals contributed $3,500.
An additional scholarship program awarded funds this year. The Sig award, a memorial in honor of the late Glenn Sigafose, is presented by Hazel Sig-Hester and Sig Manufacturing Company. Presented to one or more individuals, the award is based upon financial need and aeromodeling activity. This year's scholarship was $2,000.
This year, 23 applicants met the established criteria and were considered by the committee. Evaluated by a four-member committee, the applicants are rated in several major areas including grade average, test results, school and community activities, and modeling activities. High achievement in all of the categories is important for the maximum amount of scholarship awarded to an individual.
Again this year, the committee members were extremely close to one another in their evaluations of the applications. Seven awards were granted from Grant funds rather than the customary four or five because of increased funding and two sets of ties in the scores.
The students' planned majors include aeronautical engineering, aerospace engineering, biomedical engineering, English, family and consumer science education, and international relations.
Information regarding applications may be obtained from Jack Frost at AMA Headquarters or by visiting the AMA Education website at www.buildandfly.com.
Jessica Bufford
Jessica Bufford, daughter of David and Judy Bufford, lives in Vancouver, Washington. She is the recipient of a Charles Hampson Grant scholarship for $6,400 and a scholarship from the Weak Signals RC Club of $1,750.
Jessica attended Columbia River High School where she was a member of the National Honor Society and graduated with a 3.97 grade-point average (out of a possible 4.0). In addition to the Science Olympiad, her other extracurricular activities included being the president of the school's chapter of the Model United Nations, organizing trips and running meetings. She also participated in River Art, a school-wide art show.
A participant in the International Baccalaureate program, Jessica was challenged academically and took college-level courses. "IB taught me time management and prioritizing tasks because of the heavy work load given by the teachers," she wrote.
Active in her community, Jessica was a leader in AWANA, an evening Bible study program for elementary students, and worked as a Portland Rose Festival Parade float decorator. She worked with the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge Bird Fest, The Festival of Trees, and vacation Bible school summer camps.
She began aeromodeling as an eighth-grade student in the Science Olympiad. "My first model was abysmal," wrote Jessica, "but they soon improved with the help of the Willamette Modelers Association (WMA) and the mentorship of Andrew Tagliafico, Ed Berray, John Lenderman, and Chris Borland."
She consistently placed in the top five in the Regional and State Science Olympiads between 2002 and 2006, taking first place in the Washington State competition in 2005.
"Since that first airplane, I have learned so much about model airplane building," Jessica wrote. "The whole world of aerodynamics and the science of flight was opened up to me in a very tangible manner. I learned patience and fine motor skills while I was working on building the plane, trying to construct and put together an airplane that would fly."
The members of WMA helped her with tips and guidelines to increase her flying times. "I have attended the WMA flying events regularly," she wrote, "participating in the monthly mass launch and placing in the top three upon occasion."
She participated in the club's two-day symposium that involved flying and workshops where members shared tips and methods with other modelers.
In preparing for Science Olympiad competitions, Jessica was able to fly at her school and teach other students to fly. "Teaching was an important step for me," she wrote, "because it helped me learn trimming and winding even better."
Her coaching led to a fifth-place finish at the regionals and a second-place finish at the state level. In addition to Science Olympiad models, Jessica has built catapult launch gliders, expanding her modeling experience.
Jessica is attending Austin College in Sherman, Texas, pursuing a degree in international relations.
James Davis III
James "Trey" Davis was awarded a $4,000 Charles Hampson Grant scholarship. He is attending the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa where he plans to study aeronautical engineering.
Trey was nine years old when he and his father attended a flying event in Irvington, Alabama, following hobby-shop owner Rob Baker to the field. "When we got to the Irvington field," he wrote, "there were many model airplanes and lots of people to encourage my dad and me to get started in RC flying."
His first airplane was a SuperStar .40 ARF trainer. After weeks and hours of work on an aircraft requiring "little assembly," they went back to Irvington field where Fritz Jetten trained them to fly. One month before his 10th birthday, Trey soloed then received a Tiger II for Christmas. Since then, other aircraft he has flown have included a Sig Hog Bipe, a World Models CAP 232, and a 33% CAP 232 from Horizon Hobby. He has an Aero-Tech 35% Edge 540 and an electric foamie.
Trey is a member of the Bay Area RC club and the Azalea City RC club, both in Mobile, Alabama. He has also joined the West Alabama Aero Modelers in Tuscaloosa. Most of his modeling has been at local fields and fly-ins.
A graduate of Jackson High School in Jackson, Alabama, Trey had a 4.02 grade-point average (out of a possible 4.4). During his junior and senior years in high school, he was active on his school newspaper, The Aggie Journal, as an editor and photographer for the school paper and received awards for his work redesigning the newspaper layout.
He was a member of the National Honor Society and received additional recognition for his academic efforts. Trey received high scores on the national College Board AP Calculus AB test.
Among Trey's community activities are operating the video projection system at his church, designing graphics and video, and operating the video projection systems for Vacation Bible School.
Brittany Gillow
Brittany Gillow of Christiansburg, Virginia, is the recipient of a Charles Hampson Grant scholarship for $4,800. A graduate of Christiansburg High School, Brittany had a 4.18 grade-point average (out of a possible 4.25). She is attending Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, majoring in biomedical engineering.
Brittany was a member of the National Honor Society, Beta Club, Quill and Scroll Society, Women in Science, was the treasurer of the Environmental Club, and was in the Drama Club. She was the editor of The Demon’s Voice, her school’s newspaper, participated in the Science Olympiad, and worked as the activity director’s aide at the Port City Plantation Assisted Living facility.
Brittany attended educational summer programs including North Carolina’s Legislative School for Youth Leadership Development where she received the Howard B. Chapin Award for excellence in leadership. She participated in North Carolina’s School of Science and Mathematics Summer Ventures program where she studied abstract methods to mathematical problem solving and archaeology.
Recreational and competitive soccer have played a large part in Brittany’s life. She began playing when she was seven, and at age 14 she began refereeing youth soccer matches and was the captain of the varsity soccer team in high school.
She participated in the Mountain Academic Competition Conference for three years. “MACC involves a healthy academic competition between local schools in an amicable environment,” she wrote, “where students and coaches alike may interact on a high intellectual level. MACC has been the highlight of my past two years in high school, for to me MACC symbolizes a love for academia as well as for working as a team to achieve a common goal.”
In addition to refereeing soccer, Brittany has worked at Ben and Jerry’s as a “scooper” and at Sheetz in Radford, Virginia.
As a young girl, Brittany went with her father and brother to the flying field. “When the size of my hands caught up with my interest in flying and I could hold the transmitter on my own,” she wrote, “I joined the AMA and occasionally accompanied my father to the Wilmington Model Flying Club’s (WMFC) site where he flew. One day I remarked to my father there were no ‘girl’ planes, which led him to building one for me: an old Falcon 56, complete with Disney character co-pilots and a lilac color scheme.” That was when Brittany tried her hand at flying for the first time.
She became involved in the WMFC-sanctioned fly-ins, operating the concession stand to help raise funds for the club. When her family moved to Virginia, she joined the Montgomery County Model Airplane Club. The club participates in indoor flying during the blustery winter months and she flies an E-flite helicopter.
Brittany has experimented with rocketry, building her own engines from scratch and developing her own propellants. “I crafted two types of propellant for the engines, the first was composed of sulfur, potassium nitrate, and charcoal, and the second of sulfur, potassium nitrate, and powdered sugar,” she wrote. “When tested, the black powder failed but the white powder worked phenomenally. I packed two more charges using the white powder, adding an ejection charge to the engine. During the first launch, my rocket had a great flight, reaching approximately 1,200 feet. However, the ejection charge failed and the rocket came down and nosedived straight into the ground.”
She created a 3-D replication of an Edge 540 for a CAD drafting course after constructing the model.
Robert Gruber
Robert “Rob” Gruber, of Atlanta, Georgia, is the recipient of a $5,600 Charles Hampson Grant scholarship. A graduate of Chamblee Charter High School, Rob had a 4.16 grade-point average (out of a possible 4.34).
He was a member of several clubs including the German club, genetics and forensics club, and the math team. He competed in the Science Olympiad, the Science Fair, and several other building events, winning a number of state and regional awards.
Rob played varsity baseball and was the starting pitcher for three years. He was also active in cross-country, the National Honor Society, was a Beta Club officer, and a member of Science National Honor Society. He participated in Relay for Life, an overnight relay for cancer, Special Olympics, Sheltering Arms Daycare, and the Hunger Walk. He volunteered at the American Cancer Society’s BellSouth Classic in the concession stand and helped with Jerry’s Kids Shamrock Sales to raise money for muscular dystrophy.
Rob has worked the past summers as a proofreader for Gruber Court Reporting, reading depositions for typing errors, sentence structure, and punctuation. He also tutors neighborhood children in mathematics.
Rob has been flying CL Precision Aerobatics since he was six years old and has represented the United States at the last three CL World Championships. He was the 2004 Junior World Champion in CL Aerobatics and placed second in 2002.
“The first airplane I built was a Brodak Baby Clown,” Rob wrote. “Since then I have built and flown a Sig Twister, a Vector 40, two SV-11s, and three Dreadnoughts, along with several others. I’ve built and flown several other kinds of models recreationally, including RC electric models, gas-powered Free Flight models, and RC gliders.”
In addition to the World Championships, Rob has competed in a number of prestigious events including the King Orange International, the Carolina Classic, the Carolina Criterium, X-47 Flyers, and others in the Southeast.
He attended the Fellowship of Christian Modelers meet in Muncie, Indiana, and has been at the Nats nearly every year since 1998. In national competition Rob was the second-place Junior in 1998 and Junior National Champion in 1999, 2000, and 2001. He was the Senior National Champion in 2003, 2004, and 2005.
Rob is a member of the Precision Aerobatics Model Pilots Association (PAMPA) and the Cobb County Sky Rebels. He has judged at annual Sky Rebels meets and other events including unofficial events at the Nats.
Rob began competing in the Science Olympiad Wright Stuff competition in the sixth grade. He wrote, “I have built two models for the event almost every year, including designs by Bill Gowan and Dave Ziegler, and flown both regional and state competition.” He was the state champion in the competition in 2005.
Rob is attending Yale and majoring in English.
Daniel Jang
Daniel Jang of Glendale, Wisconsin, received a $6,400 Charles Hampson Grant scholarship in addition to $1,750 from the Weak Signals RC Club. A graduate of Nicolet High School, Daniel was a National Merit Commended student and a National Advanced Placement (AP) scholar by the end of his junior year in high school.
Daniel was born in the United States but lived in Korea from second through sixth grade before moving to Indiana. In the sixth grade, Daniel discovered RC flying.
"I have always been fascinated by flight and the engineering behind flying machines," he wrote. "When I found out about the existence of radio controlled planes in the sixth grade after moving to the US from Korea, I jumped right into the hobby."
He joined a local club and attended the meetings to learn about the hobby. "As a youngster who didn't speak English too well, meeting a lot of older RC enthusiasts was daunting at first," he wrote, "but they were very friendly and essential to my learning about the hobby."
With a mentor, Daniel built a Gentle Lady and learned to fly. He built a PT-Electric but his family moved and he was unable to fly the aircraft.
While researching AP help sites, Daniel found a website about aerial photography. The idea of combining a model airplane with a digital camera fascinated him.
"The reasons I love building and flying RC planes now extend themselves into the challenge of putting a camera, which had to be modified, into a relatively fragile plane. In order for this project to succeed, I had to isolate vibrations, lighten every item onboard, yet make the structure stronger, calculate the amount of current that different propellers used, solder electronics onto the camera, and tackle many more engineering challenges," he wrote.
The project succeeded and Daniel wrote, "Aerial photography with an RC plane gives me another angle to look at the world."
In high school, Daniel was active in music, playing the clarinet since he was in fifth grade. He was section leader and drum major for the marching band and played in the Milwaukee Symphonic Youth Orchestra and the Solo/Ensemble contests in Indiana and Wisconsin. He was on the math team, participated in the Wisconsin Madison Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Talent Search, and placed ninth in the nation in Mathfax. He received a perfect score on the Mathematics Association of America exam.
Daniel participated in the Science Fair, the Salt of the School Club, the Academic Decathlon, the Ultimate Frisbee League, and was the founder and president of the Team America Rocketry Challenge team. He was on the tennis team and active in his church youth group including a mission trip to Costa Rica and spent a few hours a week tutoring students.
Daniel is attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an engineering major.
Daniel Novak
Daniel Novak of Iowa City, Iowa, is the recipient of a $4,000 Charles Hampson Grant scholarship. He graduated from West High School with a 3.352 grade-point average (out of a possible 4.0).
Daniel has been involved in modeling since he was eight years old, beginning with Whitewings gliders. When he was in elementary school his grandfather taught him how to build rubber-powered Free Flight models. "I was amazed that something 'old fashioned' could outperform the store-bought models I was familiar with," he wrote.
In the eighth grade Daniel joined AMA and the Iowa City Aerohawks and learned to fly RC using a Hangar 9 Xtra Easy trainer.
"This model has served me well," he wrote. "It has survived many projects from the addition of an internal drop box to service as a glider launch. It will be tested again with the addition of a set of floats which I am designing for use in my club's first float fly."
Daniel has a reputation for unusual designs and enthusiasm for aeromodeling among his fellow club members. "I started designing and flying my own models a few months after I soloed," he wrote. "A Sopwith Camel-esque biplane made from deli trays followed by a triplane with a stick fuselage were my first attempts at scratch building."
He has also tried 3-D flight with foam and carbon models and even some impromptu Pylon Racing. He designed an RC sport-scale Piper Cub, suitable for indoor or outdoor flying, to take with him to college.
Daniel was a member of the cross-country and track teams in high school, lettering in cross-country all four years. He was elected team captain of the cross-country team his senior year.
He began taking cello lessons in elementary school and later played in the high school symphony orchestra, the pit orchestra, and in chamber ensembles. Daniel hopes to join the orchestra at Iowa State.
He was a junior counselor at Camp DuNord in northern Minnesota for several years through the camp's Leadership Development Program. He took on the responsibilities of a full counselor, planning and guiding various wilderness, paddling, and youth activities.
Volunteering in his community and outside it has been important in Daniel's life. He participated in Habitat for Humanity, helping raise funds, build homes, and construct an office in the organization's store for reusable building materials.
Through Rotary he traveled with his family to Xicoatepec in the Puebla Mountains in Mexico. They constructed a school for children whose parents couldn't afford to send them to school. "It is amazing for me to see what simple things are lacking in these areas and realize how fortunate I've been," he wrote.
Since he was in sixth grade, Daniel operated his own lawn-care business, enjoying the flexible schedule and the opportunity to work outdoors.
He also worked one summer at a restaurant that opened near his home. In the first week the new restaurant generated a large number of customers for the small group of newly trained employees and Daniel wrote, "That week, although it was trying, was an important experience. I now have great respect for service workers and understand the paramount importance of customer satisfaction."
Daniel is in the Honors program at Iowa State University in pursuit of a degree in aerospace engineering.
Christopher Poole
Christopher "Chris" Poole received a Charles Hampson Grant scholarship for $4,800. From Colorado Springs, Colorado, he graduated from Coronado High School and ranked sixth in a class of 380.
Chris worked on his school yearbook team, serving as editor-in-chief his junior year and in an advisory capacity his senior year. He taught himself to play guitar and formed a band that took third place in his school's Battle of the Bands.
He is an active participant in a number of sports. "I love physical activity," he wrote. "I'm constantly longboarding, mountainboarding, snowboarding, surfing (when I can get to a beach!), weightlifting, and running."
One of Chris's greatest achievements has been earning his private pilot's license in a Cessna 172, thanks to plenty of hard studying, flight time, and practice.
He has worked in a volunteer capacity at Starsmore Discovery Center, a local nature center. His duties have included cleaning the building, working with guests, and assisting staff members with climbing wall activities designed to teach kids about climbing safety.
Chris wrote an article about the facility for a local magazine designed to attract visitors to the center. Other volunteer activities have included tutoring children in reading.
Chris has worked as a ranch hand at the Flying W. Ranch, a tourist attraction that includes a western town, stage show, and dinner served to 1,000 guests at a time. His duties included staffing the parking lot, running the refreshment stand, serving food in the dinner line, and cleaning the entire ranch afterward.
He also worked in a local French restaurant after school, clearing tables, seating patrons, and helping serve food, and at a machine/prototype shop.
Chris's interest in aviation has its roots in childhood. "Flight fascinated me," he wrote, "and noticing my interest, my grandfather got me an old trainer in 1994." He wasn't old enough to fly it and had no one to teach him so he began building gliders and wind-up models.
Later Chris bought an RTF Xtra Easy trainer, learned to fly at the local club, and became obsessed with the hobby. He built a Kaos .40 then began experimenting with aerobatics and aircraft design. He built a number of foam park flyers, completed a biplane, and painstakingly finished it with three layers of MonoKote fashioned into a flame pattern.
Chris has built a micro Uproar from plans and converted a Fokker Dr.I kit to radio control. His biggest achievement to date has been building a Blohm und Voss P.170, a German bomber that never made it off the drawing boards. The unusual aircraft features two power plants on the wingtips and one in the central fuselage.
"Working with a computer 3-D program, I planned a design from the original three-view drawing then filled it out with spars, ribs, and stringers," Chris wrote. "The odd machine was completed in park flyer scale over a long year, and was built using traditional stick-and-tissue techniques mixed with the advantages of modern electronic motors and Lithium batteries. I finally flew the contraption and to my utter joy it worked, proving the decades-old design to be feasible."
Paul Bradley detailed Chris's Blohm und Voss project in his "Small-Field Flying" column in the October 2005 Model Aviation.
Chris is attending the University of Arizona studying aerospace engineering. He hopes to work in the private aerospace industry.
Breanna Sherrow
Breanna Sherrow is the recipient of a $4,000 Charles Hampson Grant scholarship and was awarded a $2,200 Sig scholarship.
She is a graduate of Mountain View High School in Tucson, Arizona. Breanna had a 3.9 grade-point average (out of a possible 4.0).
The daughter of Clay and Debbie Sherrow, Breanna has grown up around the hobby. She began flying a trainer when she was seven years old. As she became a more accomplished pilot, she began competing in Scale Warbird Racing Association (SWRA) events. She wrote, "I always liked flying in races, but my favorite part was when the race was over and I could do loops, rolls, and other stunts. When I did not race, I was a caller for my dad during warbird and Pylon races."
She has built a Midwest .40 trainer, rockets, and a Big Stik 40. She has been involved in a number of events including an AMA Jet Rally, the Tucson Jet Rally, SWRA and Tucson Warbird Races, and the Pylon and Aerobatic Shootout. As a contestant she has attended several warbird races and fun-fly events and races RC cars.
Breanna has overcome an early disability in learning. As an elementary student she was evaluated, and while her mathematical skills were far beyond those expected at her grade level, her reading and writing proficiency fell short. She was diagnosed with a learning disability and received help through the Individualized Education Program (IEP).
With determination and motivation Breanna brought her skills up to grade level more rapidly than expected but continued in the IEP program where help was always available. In her freshman year of high school it was determined that she no longer needed the program and she became quite upset.
"I realized that the very crutches I once needed were being taken away from me," she wrote. "I did not think I could survive without them; however, I could indeed walk without crutches and came to realize that I could excel in school on my own."
With determination Breanna overcame her disability and was recognized as a scholar of the year her freshman year, an honor awarded to only two students from each grade level.
Breanna was a member of SBC (Site Based Council), an advisory committee of students, parents, faculty, and staff. She participated in the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), the National Honor Society, and the Link Crew: a transition program designed to acclimate freshmen students to high school. She was also a member of the Family Career Community Leaders of America.
Breanna played volleyball throughout high school and volunteered as the freshman boys' volleyball coach her senior year. At the YMCA she ran a weeklong volleyball camp teaching young girls the fundamentals of the game and worked in Member Services.
She was a participant in the ZONA Volleyball Club, a non-profit organization that offers training and competitive opportunities to female athletes in grades 4-12.
In her community Breanna has done volunteer work including conducting a Thanksgiving food drive, Habitat for Humanity, sports events, and tutoring.
In addition to her honors and college preparatory classes, Breanna attended and began taking classes at Pima Community College during her sophomore year, earning 24 credits. She is attending the University of Arizona and plans to major in Family and Consumer Sciences Education. She hopes to teach child development and coach a varsity volleyball program.
AMA/Charles H. Grant Scholarships
Each year, the Academy of Model Aeronautics awards Charles Hampson Grant Scholarships to deserving high-school seniors who will be pursuing a continuing academic program at an accredited college or university.
In 2006, 23 applications were received and processed by the four-person selection committee. Approximately $40,000 is available to be distributed in various amounts based on AMA modeling activities, scholastic achievement, and citizenship achievement.
To be eligible for a scholarship, the applicant must:
- Have been an AMA member for the last full 36 consecutive months prior to the April 30 application deadline.
- Graduate from high school in the year in which the award is to be granted.
- Have been accepted by a college or university offering a certificate or degree program.
The Charles H. Grant Scholarship Program contains other grants which involve specific factors for determining the award.
The Toledo Weak Signals Scholarship is awarded to the top recipient of the AMA/Charles H. Grant Scholarship. The Sig Memorial Scholarship is awarded based on a combination of modeling achievement and financial need.
The Telford Scholarship, new for 2007, is based on participation in competition activity in the AMA and FAI classifications listed in the application packet.
Scholarship information and applications or information regarding donations to the program can be obtained by calling AMA Headquarters at (765) 287-1256, ext. 516, or by emailing [email protected] or [email protected].
Applications are also available on the AMA Education website at www.buildandfly.com.
The application deadline for this year is April 30, 2007.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
