The Connie Wolf Memorial Scholarship
Scholarship Name:
The Connie Wolf Memorial Scholarship: The Louise Sacchi and Connie Wolff Memorial Scholarship and The Theresa Dellaquila Memorial Scholarship.
Purpose:
The Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of The Ninety-Nines, Inc. is part of an organization of licensed women pilots represented in over 40 countries. Our purpose is to engage in educational, charitable, and scientific activities, and to promote aeronautical science. The scholarship awards may be used for any aviation purpose, and all qualified applicants will be seriously considered.
Eligibility:
These scholarships are traditionally awarded to those females who reside, attend school, or are employed in the Greater Delaware Valley, or who are members of the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of The Ninety-Nines, Inc.
- Applicant must be at least 16 years old at the time of application. There is no age limit.
- Applicant must be available for a personal interview with the Scholarship Committee if requested.
- Applicant must submit and sign the Scholarship Application and the Scholarship Award Attestation. If under 18, parent/guardian must also sign.
- Applications sent via E-mail will not be considered.
- The award must be used for the purpose specified in the Scholarship Application.
- If the award is to be used for flight training, it must be used at a certified flight school.
Value: $3,500 each
Application Submission Process and Completion Date:
Scholarship Applications for 2017 are now available. Applications must be received via USPS no later than 6:00 p.m. on April 29, 2017. Applications sent via E-mail will not be considered.
- Return one copy of the Scholarship Award Letter to Recipient with your signature immediately after receiving it.
- Send a color head shot photo and brief biographical statement of 200 words or less within two weeks of the formal Scholarship Awards Dinner.
- Use the funds solely for the specific purpose stated on the Scholarship Application and according to the terms stated in the Scholarship Award Letter for Recipient.
- Use the scholarship award within one year of the formal Scholarship Awards Dinner.
- Communicate training status to the Scholarship Chairman in writing or via email, and provide timely notification of changes to personal contact information. Upon completion of the use of the scholarship award, present a report in writing to the Scholarship Chairman or orally at a chapter meeting regarding status and training accomplishments.
- Attend at least one Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of The Ninety-Nines, Inc. meeting within a year of the Scholarship Dinner.
Scholarship Application Checklist:
- Completed Scholarship Application form (plus 3 copies) must be typewritten or printed legibly.
- A separate sheet (item 10) must accompany the form, explaining goals and interests. (Plus 3 copies)
- Two letters of recommendation from non-family members must accompany the form. (Plus 3 copies)
- All parts of the completed Scholarship Application, the Scholarship Award Attestation, and Letters of Recommendation must be received via USPS by 6:00 p.m. on April 29th.
Application:
History/Background:
Great lives often reflect great partnerships. When an adventurous pilot named Abby Wolf, married his wife Constance “Connie” Wolf, she provided the ultimate complement to their partnership. At one point much later in her life, she was one of only five women in the entire world to possess a valid airman’s certificate longer than fifty years.
Abby taught Connie to fly on their honeymoon. She and Abby took their first balloon ride together in 1951 over Zurich, Switzerland. The thrill of that ride inspired a life-long passion for Connie, but an unusually subdued Abby found himself “huddling in the bottom of this miserable laundry basket.” Consequently, while Connie went on to perform various and well-publicized balloon flights, Abby returned to pilot all manner of powered aircraft, never setting foot in a balloon again.
Connie abhorred hot air ballooning. It was “too hot, much too noisy, not what a person of character would fly”. Her balloons were filled with hydrogen. Not helium, Connie would have only the best, and that was hydrogen. She suspended a fluffy feather from a wisp of thread to see if she was climbing or descending.
In 1959, Connie duplicated the first balloon flight in America, exactly repeating what Jean Pierre Blanchard had done in 1793. Earlier, in 1951, she spent a frigid 40 hours and 18 minutes setting 15 world records, including taking the women’s endurance record away from two Russians.
In 1962, Connie was the first woman to cross the Alps in a balloon.
On the 200th anniversary of the Constitution, she flew a balloon shaped like the Liberty Bell over Philadelphia.
When Connie wasn’t ballooning, she was flying with Abby.
It is said of this couple, “Abby liked airplanes with engines so you could GO somewhere. Connie preferred silent balloons, so you could BE somewhere”.
Connie Wolf and her husband shared a life-long love of aviation, adventure, and public service.
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