Whirly Girls International, an international organization of Licensed Women Helicopter Pilots based in Menlo Park California, has announced the selection of eight winners of over $40,000 in flight training scholarships that the organization provides for advanced helicopter and "add-on" ratings training to women pilots. The winners of these scholarships come from all over the world and are selected based on the merits of their training goals and objectives.  Three of the scholarships are funded directly from the fund while five are the result of generous donations from American Eurocopter, Bell Helicopter Textron, Flight Safety International and Robinson Helicopters.  This years winners are:

• Whirly-Girl Helicopter Training Scholarship - Julia Brooke Meissner, Piscataway, NJ
• Doris Mullen Scholarship - Amy Fowler, Cordova, TN
• International Whirly-Girl Training Scholarship - Alison Husain,  Bell Canyon, CA
• American Eurocopter Flight Training Scholarship - Rikke Carmichael, Tarzana, CA
• Flight Safety International Instrument Refresher Course Scholarship - Rebecca Chambers, Clarksville, TN
• Bell Helicopter Flight Training Scholarship - Lea Weinkauf, Benson, Arizona
• Robinson Helicopter R22/R44Safety Course Scholarship - Lisa DiGiovanna, Cypress, CA and Amaryllis Khat, Portland, Or.

The Whirly-Girls International is a non-profit, educational and charitable organization dedicated to advancing women in helicopter aviation. Special projects include encouraging the establishment of Hospital Heliports. Formed in 1955 by Jean Ross Howard Phelan, today we number nearly 1,300 members from 34 countries. The Whirly-Girls, Inc are dedicated to advancing professionalism in helicopters, while providing women helicopter pilots a forum for the exchange of information and opportunities.

Initiated in 1968 in memory of Doris Mullen (WG #84), a dedicated and professional pilot who lost her life in a fixed-wing aircraft accident, the scholarship program has grown from a single $500 scholarship to several different scholarships valued in excess of $ 30,000. The Whirly-Girls Scholarship Fund was incorporated in 1974 to oversee and administer the scholarship funds raised by The Whirly-Girls International and their Auxiliaries, and is a federally tax exempt 501(c)3 public charity making donations tax deductible.  The scholarship fund is replenished through donations from members and other helicopter enthusiasts.

FMI: http://www.whirlygirls.org/