Taking Off

St. James-assiniboia

STURGEON HEIGHTS

Sturgeon Heights

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/06/2023 (315 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tyler Wurm, a Grade 10 aviation student at Collège Sturgeon Heights Collegiate, is this year’s Manitoba recipient of a prestigious aviation scholarship that will fund his post-secondary flight training.

The Ray Aviation scholarship program is administered by the chapters of the Experimental Aircraft Association across Canada and the United States. It is valued at $1.8 million US and awards scholarships of up to $11,000 US to recipients across North America. EAA Chapter 63 is located at Springfield Flying Club north of Winnipeg, and Wurm, this year’s youngest scholarship winner, is the fifth local recipient of a Ray scholarship. One of the former winners is a colleague at Wurm’s current job with Perimeter Aviation.

The scholarship is funded by the Ray Foundation, which was created by American pilot James C. Ray, who went through flight training with the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942.

The scholarship application process was lengthy and involved an interview as well as evaluations of Wurm’s grades and background.

“It was a lot of quiet, at first,” Wurm said, thinking back to the phone call telling him he’d earned the scholarship.

“I was mostly trying to process it at the same time because I knew other people who had applied for it who were more qualified than I was, and it really caught me off guard. Then, day two, it started to dawn on me, how influential the scholarship was, and how big it was and how much of a presence it had and (it’s) pretty much … been building since then.”

Wurm said has been interested in flying since he was 12. He said that, short-term, he aims to get his private pilot’s licence as soon as he turns 17. He then hopes to work in a commercial aviation job that will give him an interesting career further down the line.

Joe Vodopivec — Wurm’s instructor and the sole aviation teacher at Sturgeon Heights — said Wurm clearly has the skills needed to get to this point at a young age. Teamwork comes hand-in-hand with leadership, especially in flight, and Wurm has shown strength in both areas.

“(It’s) extremely important in any industry,” Vodopivec said. “You know, when I talk about leadership and so on, he’s taking on roles in here, as well participating, say, in our open house, mentoring youth and so on. But I also know, through air cadets, he’s taking on leadership roles there.”

He said Wurm, who is an air cadet, has taken on teaching lessons to younger cadets.

“From time to time he’ll ask me a few questions on certain subjects that the has to teach,” Vodopivec said. “I don’t spoon feed him. I do challenge him to figure it out and he does.”

“It’s just being able to sort of work with whatever environment you’re put into,” Wurm said. “Like being a classroom, being able to collaborate with others or, for example, where I work at Perimeter, every day is with different rotations. … You just sort of show up and go, ‘Oh, nice, let’s get those tasks done,’ or whatnot.”

Sturgeon Heights is the only high school in Manitoba to offer an aviation course of such a high calibre. Participating students are directly connected to the industry out of high school. Vodopivec can name many who dove straight into flight training after graduation. The program attracts students from as far away as Spain, Brazil, and Germany.

The average-sized aviation classroom at the school is lined with several flight simulators. The most advanced depict a picture-perfect recreation of Winnipeg, down to individual houses, and can mimic weather in real time.

“Part of the importance (of the program) is the fact that there’s such a demand in the industry right now,” Vodopivec said. “Our population has to really start focusing on promoting aviation, having the youth understand at an earlier age or — not even understand — have the opportunity to experience.”

The class is regarded as a “well-hidden secret,” Vodopivec said, which he finds unfortunate. The class covers a wide range of subjects, like meteorology, psychology, and the navigation process of flight, and jump-starts careers for people interested in being anything from flight attendants to engineers.

“I can truly say a lot of the students here, like especially the higher grade levels, they’re here because they really enjoy it,” Vodopivec said.