A new scholarship has been set up to help encourage female pilots in the Gulf.

The Arabian Section of the 99's International Women Pilots Association has set up the Yvonne Trueman Scholarship, named in honour of its former area governor, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

“The scholarship is aimed at promoting opportunities for the flying members of the section to expand their aviation knowledge,” said current area governor Alia Twal.

“We want to give them the chance to achieve more through the Yvonne Trueman Scholarship.

“Yvonne has spent the past 20 to 30 years fundraising for various charities and she has run marathons, including four in London and two in New York.

“She was the governor for the Arabian section for 15 years and she is the reason we now have 69 female pilots as members and are rapidly increasing.

“Her late son Captain Julian Pooley, a helicopter pilot, was killed in 1984 whilst serving with the British Army Air Corps as a Gazelle helicopter pilot and Yvonne wished to give the first donation of $10,000 in his memory.”

Trueman told the GDN that she was flattered to have the scholarship named after her.

“The idea for the scholarship didn't come from me, but from the lady pilots themselves,” she said.

“I wanted to donate because I thought it was rather nice to have something in my son's memory and keep his name alive in the flying world.”

She said the section has grown 'tremendously' over the last 15 years.

“With this scholarship's foundation, we can guide female pilots and help them,' she said. 'If someone is flying and they need a type rating, we can try and help them.

“A type rating is training for a specific kind of aircraft, as you can't go from one aircraft to another without it.

“It can cost a lot of money these days, and if you don't have a sponsor it comes out of your own purse.

“We hope to assist those who need help to go up the aviation ladder.

“These girls are all over the Gulf, and we're able to help them.

“Our ambition is to get to 99 members.”

Trueman said in order to qualify, a female pilot would have to be in the 99's International Women Pilots Association, which was founded by Amelia Earhart in 1927 and has more than 5,000 members in 35 countries. - TradeArabia News Service