The Sir Geoffrey de Havilland Flying Scholarship enables a young person to gain a Private Pilot’s Licence. This award has been made annually since 2014 and offers training to Private Pilot Licence standard in the classic and vintage de Havilland DH82A Tiger Moths of the Cambridge Flying Group (CFG). It has been said many times that “if you can fly a Tiger Moth – you can fly anything!” and the yellow and silver Tiger Moth biplanes of the Cambridge Flying Group have 65 years of providing this experience.
The Scholarship seeks applicants from those with an affinity for vintage and historic aerospace, either as an ambition or are perhaps already working in a voluntary, full-time, or part-time capacity. The primary purpose of this award is to preserve classic aircraft operation and engineering. This award is not ideally suitable to support someone to train for a commercial pilot’s licence.
Our aim is to offer a significant opportunity to learn to fly in such an iconic vintage aeroplane as the Tiger Moth, whose lessons in flying skills are as appropriate now as when the Tiger Moth first flew in 1931. No previous flying experience is required, although evidence of a keen interest in aviation is a necessity.
This scholarship for £7,000 will normally fund most of the cost of the standard hours’ training required for a Private Pilot’s Licence with the remainder to be funded by the successful candidate on an hours-flown basis.
Applications for the 2025 award will open on 1st May 2025, and the closing date for applications will be midnight on 15th June 2025. Shortlisted candidates will be advised soon after and interviews for the shortlisted candidates will take place during August at the Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden Aerodrome, SG18 9EP.
Applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 35 and resident in the UK i.a.w. the Coachmakers standard terms and conditions, and who have not previously been awarded any similar bursary (with the exception of the 12-hour Air Cadet Scholarship). As the standard of applications is always high, we welcome applications from previously unsuccessful candidates who may wish to try again.
To apply for the scholarship please complete the online application using the link below. Those applicants who are short-listed for interview will be invited to the Cambridge Flying Group and, following the interview, will be given a short flight in a Tiger Moth. Any previous flying experience will be regarded as neither an advantage nor disadvantage; it is enthusiasm, potential and commitment that will count.
The winner of the scholarship will also be invited to, and expected to attend, the Coachmakers’ Aerospace Industry Dinner held annually in November at a prestigious location in London. At this event the winner will be presented with a Certificate of Achievement in the presence of several senior executives from the UK and European aerospace industries. The dinner is a black tie event, the cost of which will be borne by the Coachmakers. However, any travel and any accommodation expenses incurred must be borne by individual winner.
Not only does this award offer opportunities and financial assistance in the short term, association with the Coachmakers is potentially long-term and offers exciting networking opportunities. Our website gives more information on how industry and military affiliations have evolved from our historic roots in the coachmaking and coach harness making trades.
Candidates should complete the online application form here.
Any question or queries may be addressed by email to the Aerospace Awards Committee Chairman, Steward Neil Sheath MRAeS.