Author Archives: Bart Giesler

Aviation History

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The Aviation Association has had an incredible history thanks to the many extraordinary individuals who have been and are a part of our organization.

We are currently trying to gather biographies on the individuals who have earned the AAI Person of the Year or the AAI’s Presidents Special Recognition Award.

If you have received one of these awards, please send us a short biography detailing your career in aviation. If you know of the career of one of our past members who is no longer with us, please send us that as well.

We are looking forward to reading the responses and sharing them on our site and to our members.

Letter to Legislators

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We encourage you to contact your legislators regarding airport funding. Below is a sample letter for you to use. In the second paragraph, please specifically mention a project that would be effected by a lack of state funding.

Dear XXX,

I wanted to take a quick moment to follow-up on an important issue related to funding of our airports system in the state of Indiana. Currently, the funding level in the proposed budget for airport capital improvement projects across the state is $4M. I strongly encourage you to raise that level to at least $4.8M. This money leverages federal grant dollars at a 19:1 ratio – ie. for every $1M we invest, we leverage $18M in federal dollars coming back to the state to improve our transportation infrastructure and create and sustain jobs. This is the highest level of federal match of any transportation investment. This is a low risk investment too, as no dollars are spent without the match being guaranteed.

Specifically, if we don’t restore the state’s portion of the match, we put projects at all airports at risk. (INSERT A SPECIFIC PROJECT FROM THE AIRPORT THE LEGISLATOR REPRESENTS)

I know and understand the many budgetary pressure you are under right now, but this is a relatively small ask with big implications. The ability to bring federal tax dollars back to the state to support local Hoosier jobs is incredibly important. Please don’t put these important projects at risk, instead restore the funding for airport capital improvement projects to at least $4.8M. Thank you for your time.

2014 Scholarship Application is Now Available

Click here for full application

NOMINATIONS ARE CURRENTLY BEING ACCEPTED FOR 2014 AAI SCHOLARSHIP FUND, INC.

The AAI Scholarship Fund, Inc. requests nominees for multiple scholarships covering flight, maintenance, and aviation administration:

The eligibility requirements are as follows:

* graduate of an Indiana high school,
* enrolled in a two or four year aviation program at an Indiana College or University,
* achieving average or better grades,
* actively participating in extracurricular activities or work experience, and
* have an unmet financial need (this may be certified by a faculty member).

The nominee may not be, nor be related to, a member of the Aviation Association of Indiana (AAI) or anyone serving on the Board of AAI Scholarship Fund, Inc.

Each institution/school should provide three nominees for each of the scholarships. The nominations should include the attached scholarship application and a recommendation from an appropriate faculty member.

The applications should be received by MAY 23, 2014. The decision of the scholarship selection committee will be made at the July meeting of the Aviation Association of Indiana. A formal presentation of the awards will be made at the Aviation Association of Indiana Annual Conference Awards Banquet on Thursday, October 16, 2014, at the Belterra Casino Resort in Florence, Indiana .

All applications should be emailed as an attachment to: aaisfi@yahoo.com or mailed to Aviation Association of Indiana Scholarship, 135 N Pennsylvania Street, Suite 1175 , Indianapolis , IN 46204. The attached word file can be filled in electronically and either printed out and sent or emailed to the above addresses. If you need additional space, feel free to attach a separate document.

If you have any questions, feel to direct them to: aaisfi@yahoo.com or by calling Marty Blake at (317) 232-1487.