ASF funds urban youth in gliders and airplanes. Our students start in gliders, get certified as private pilots, then finish in airplanes. The Robbins Airport Scholarship is named after the historic airport that once existed in Robbins, Illinois in the 1930's. This scholarship honors the dozen pioneer pilots who formed Chicago's first African American flying club and built their own airstrip for the purpose of training black men and women to fly. The airport was only in existence for a few years until a wind storm blew down the hangar and destroyed the club's two airplanes.
Gliders are unpowered aircraft which are towed into the sky by a powered aircraft.
Scholarship recipients fly every Saturday from May through November. Low income students in 8th or 9th grade, from Chicago's Southland, NW Indiana, or Kankakee, B average grades or better and a demonstrated record of aviation experiences. Weekly transportation to the airport required. Applications are due April 15 each year. The era of the 1920s was an exciting time for aviators.