Dennis Kenyon Junior 2009 Scholarship

[DennisK]

Trusting the Moderators will allow me to publicise on Pprune the 2009 Scholarship for the above PPL(H) scholarship for youngsters.

This year we are planning to run the scholarship with a whisker more Jazz where the format will be something akin to the 'X' Factor.

Youngsters aged 18 to 23 in calendar year 2009 will be invited to apply. The winner will be awarded a CAA (EU) PPL (H) to be undertaken in the autumn of 2009. Previous winners have been .... Zoe Spain of Ascot, Hannah Nobbs of Malden and Georgie Dixon from Northampton.

All three are now working in aviation, and no doubt pilots will have chatted to Zoe as FISO at Fairoaks. And I'd prefer not to have any comments like ... renaming the Scholarship, 'The Dennis Kenyon Scholarship for girls!' ... but I'm emigrating if the committee choose a fourth female in 2009!

The award will be made this year in conjunction with the monthly 'LOOP aviation newspaper.' Details and application form will appear in the February and/or March issue of LOOP. See, LOOP.aero (http://www.loop.aero).

The committee will short list the best applications for individual consideration based on the applicant's 300 word essay, CV and application letter. Twenty candidates will be selected for personal interviews and presentations at a 'Boot Camp' to be held over a weekend at a suitable aerodrome, probably Shoreham Airport. The candidate will be required to make a blackboard/white board presentation to the committee of a typical and pre-advised exercise subject such as Vortex Ring or Autorotation followed by interview. The idea is not to test on the candidate's technical knowledge, rather their general aptitude for aviation teaching and overall character and presence. Candidates must believe themselves fit enough to obtain a CAA Class One medical and be able to assimilate the seven ground study subjects

A final three will be selected and invited to attend a flying aptitude test and further interview where the winner will be announced.

An especially kind sponsor has donated 50 hours in his Robinson R44. The training will be conducted by either myself or an experienced and well respected FI at an airfield convenient for the instructor and award winner.

The Scholarship is also seeking a sponsor for the following. Fuel used, landing fees, hotel accomodation and technical books and Nav equipment and the cost of a 50 hour maintenance check at the completion of the PPL course ... or cheques in any amount! PM me for the details or e-mail: [email protected]

The training programme may be covered by a TV company, possibly LOOPTV.

Any ideas from ppruners are more than welcome.

A kind 'Thank You' to the mods for the above.

Safe flying to all,

Dennis K

[James_Grace]

How many people have applied in previous years?

[ASWFlyer]

Brilliant news, Dennis! :)

[SilsoeSid]

Anyone know if Dennis had to emigrate ?

[jez d]

Dennis, interested to know if your scholarship will be running this year?

Many thanks, jez

[DennisK]

Sadly the 2009/10 scholarship couldn't happen simply because our major sponsor fell foul of the recession and had to pull out.

I am looking at various ways of offering the scholarship for 2011 and have been in discussion with helpful individuals as to how we might get a major media player interested. As I write, I am preparing a proposal on the lines of the previously mentioned 'Boot Camp' principle where the entire selection process and aptitude test 'fly-offs' will take place over a single weekend. To date we have the offer of a suitable hangar at Shoreham Airport and apart from endeavouring to lure in a TV player, I'm approaching the fuel companies for sponsorship, plus others for general support.

The plan would be for the scholarship committee to whittle down the initial batch of candidates to around twenty, possibly thirty who will then be invited to attend the boot camp. There they will each be given an aviation subject (EOLs or VR perhaps.) The hangar will be 'dressed' in aviation style, a stage added and with a hundred or so seats for the audience and press. The short-listed candidates will then give a presentation to the committee and the audience. Marks will be awarded on general presence, presentation and performance generally ... but not on the technical aspects. Six finalists will be invited to return the next day for the flying aptitude tests. The TRE conducting the tests will select the winning candidate who will receive the funding and training for the CAA PPL(H.) Previous winners have been Zoe Spain .. now FISO at Fairoaks. Hannah Nobbs, working in the design dept of Westland-Agusta in Italy and Georgie Dixon who works with Sloane Helis at Sywell. I am holding just over one hundred applications for this year but would welcome another hundred or so.

There is a fair bit more to the scholarship and an e-mail to me will provide more details, especially with any sponsorship interest or ideas for running the event. [email protected]

Best wishes to all and I'll be reporting as soon as I am in a position to say 'Go' for this year.

Dennis Kenyon. (not emigrated .... yet!)

[jez d]

Hi Dennis

Many thanks for the reply and apologies for the delay in responding.

I do like your idea of a 'boot camp' style competition and suspect the media will as well. Perhaps making contact with some celebrity rotorheads will help facilitate your plan?

Best wishes, jez

[Pofman]

Hey Guys,

Don’t you think that Dennis is doing a great service to our community by getting someone new started in our fun industry. However, it is not just getting someone started: it is getting started the right way with quality flight and ground instruction from a very experienced instructor. The way we would always want to start.
Would it not be a good idea to give Dennis a hand in bringing one more well trained pilot into the skies? There are about 60+ logged PPRUNE members with about another 200 others browsing at present. If we all forego one meal out a year (say £20 ) that would raise over £5,000, and go a substantial way to funding this scholarship.

What is in it for us? I hear. For starters we would have properly started individual who we would expect to be flying around us exercising good judgment in our crowded skies. Secondly for those who have a P2 you should get a cockpit companion with good basic skills and common sense. This sounds to me to be a win-win situation.

As I am no longer flying it means your chances of getting a good CoJo have increased and I will willingly miss a dinner. If you think this is a good idea and want to give Dennis a hand contact the Dennis Kenyon Jr Fund. Remember that we all have someone who helped us along the way either financially, going the extra mile, introductions, or just encouragement. How better to return the favour!

[firebird_uk]

Let me think? Do I want to pay so that someone else can get for free what I had to pay for so that they can then be extra competition within the marketplace I work in?

I know the answer. No!

Let Dennis convince some media types that it'll make good "reality TV". Perhaps it could be called The Apprentice. Second thoughts, that might have gone already.

[Flying Pencil]

Earl,

With the best will in the world, do you not think quoting a Rabbi and Einstein is a tad OTT?
We are not talking about saving starving kids here are we? It's a great 'leg up' for a well deserving young person into the world of flying. The sad fact of the matter is that if the person who gets this PPL doesn't have access to much more cash they are never going to be able to get to fly professionally (except the military route).
Also, saying Firebird doesn't believe in charity because he doesn't want to contribute to this one is quite an assumption.

[DennisK]

Just a note for Flying pencil.

Three scholarship winners to date ... all qualified on financial grounds. (it might be said that applies to 90% of the country!)

No 1. Zoe Spain ....... Now a FISO at Fairoaks Airport. UK.

No 2. Hannah Nobbs... Working in the design department of Agusta-Westland in Italy.

No 3. Georgie Dixon ..... Working with Sloane Helicopters. UK.

So it appears that at least our scholarship IS getting new pilots into the industry.

Point very much taken about tempting the media. I'm presently preparing a proposal for a 'Heli X Factor' and 'Boot Camp' idea. I'm a bit of a story-teller, but not much of a script writer, TV producer or any of the other fancy titles required. Anyone with connections on here?

Regards. Dennis Kenyon.

[starflex fixer]

Hi Dennis

I work for an aviation company in Staffordshire, and MAY be able to get some help / assistance given.

We have offered charity type help elsewhere, and our company owner is keen to get anyone into the dieing sector that is aviation.

I'm possibly being lazy asking this instead of searching, but what would the entry requirements be for people entering the aviation x-factor, or would it be a free for all?

SFF

[hands_on123]

Mmm...

Are any of the previous winners pursuing a career as a pilot?

Did a PPL(H) help them get their current jobs?

Would the money be better spent on some other way to "get people into aviation", which is more cost-effective than a PPL(H)?

[DennisK]

The DENNIS KENYON JUNIOR HELICOPTER SCHOLARSHIP.

The scholarship is open to any UK national.

Requirements are:

Aged 18 to 23 in the calendar year the scholarship is announced.

Not able to personally fund flying to the PPL stage.

Be available and able to fund or make accomodation arrangements for the four week period of the course.

Able to qualify for a CAA 'Class Two' medical.

Have a command of the English language.

Candidates should write or preferably e-mail an application, enclosing details of career to date, interests and hobbies, copy birth certificate, (a photograph is always helpful for the selection committee.) Write an essay of not more than 300 words outlining why they believe they should be awarded the scholarship.

Address to: The Dennis Kenyon Junior Helicopter Scholarship,
Cimarosa, 6 Caple Avenue, Kings Caple, Herefordshire, HR1 4UL.
E-Mail: [email protected]

Please note, it is not possible to reply to letters or discuss aspects of the scholarship. All E-mails will be acknowledged. Candidates who are short-listed for interview will be notified and possibly published in the UK 'FLYER' aviation magazine.

Second Item:

It is not the intention of our scholarship to provide a route to a professional licence. The scholarship is offered as a route to a Private Helicopter licence and bring youngsters into the industry.

Please note that as I write, the scholarship does not have sufficient funds to offer the award for 2010, but it is expected to be definite for 2011 but once again the situation is always dependent on sufficient sponsorship becoming available.

Safe flying to all. Dennis Kenyon.

[DennisK]

Correction to the above. For 2010 read 2011. For 2011 read 2012. Sorry! DRK

[batty boy]

so pofman, did you forego your £20 !!!!

what a great idea .....

[DennisK]

Once again & sadly, I have to announce that due to a lack of funding, the 2012 scholarship cannot be offered. In the last few months, I've approached twelve TV media companies, three dozen 'Captains of Industry, around fifty major UK companies, eight national newspapers ... ditto aviation fuel companies and a few private individuals, but it seems this recession is as formidable for our industry as the Iron Curtain. I'm doing something wrong as I routinely spot someone on TV starting a fund for some cause or other and ending up with several hundred thousand. The DRK Scholarship is looking for just £15k.

On a personal basis and now being 75% retired, I'm unable to fund the scholarship myself and all I plan to do just now is re-submit my 'Boot Camp' idea to likely companies for 2013. I don't want to see the original scholarship idea just fade away so I'm always interested in hearing from any individuals out there who are in the 'fund raising' business or for that matter, anyone who wants to help keep our project going.

To answer a previously unanswered question. I'm currently holding just 135 scholarship applications which is well down from the 'high' for the 2005 event of almost one thousand. Safe flying to all out there. Dennis K.

[SilsoeSid]

Three scholarship winners to date ...

No 1. Zoe Spain ....... Now a FISO at Fairoaks Airport. UK.

No 2. Hannah Nobbs... Working in the design department of Agusta-Westland in Italy.

No 3. Georgie Dixon ..... Working with Sloane Helicopters. UK.


Perhaps it's that great big elephant in the interview room that is keeping sponsors away :suspect: