Cascade Warbirds, the largest squadron in the Warbirds of America with more than 250 members, is making its annual aviation scholarships available once again.

Young adults ages 16 to 21 years with a passion for flight and an eagerness to learn how to fly are encouraged to apply. The deadline to apply is March 25.

Cascade Warbirds is committed to distributing a minimum of six scholarships, each valued at $1,125. Scholarships provide recipients with tuition, books and supplies, plus two introductory instructional flights at Galvin Flight Service at Boeing Field.

The ground school portion comprises 55 hours of instruction that includes classroom lectures, visual presentations, group discussions, practical exercises and field trips. The first introductory flight will occur halfway through the ground school; the second will occur after successful completion of the ground school.

Students can expect each instructional flight to include a pre-flight briefing, taxi and runway procedures, takeoff, in-flight maneuvers, an introduction to radio communications, return and landing and post-flight procedures. Both flights will be logged into the student's personal logbook and will be counted toward the minimum flight time required to earn a private pilot's license. Successful completion of the ground school will qualify the student to take the FAA private pilot written exam.

Ron Morrell, Cascade Warbirds' squadron commander, said students will have to complete more than the minimum instructional flights provided by the scholarship to earn their private pilot license. He said 25 to 30 hours of flight time is required to qualify a student for the private pilot test.

A significant part of Cascade Warbirds' mission is to educate youth about aviation.

"We've been doing this for fifteen years," Morrell said. "We've distributed about $5,000 per year in scholarships over the past fifteen years."

Many students who have earned the Cascade Warbirds scholarship have successfully completed the ground school and have gone on to advanced aviation training at schools such as Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the Air Force Academy, he said.

Cascade Warbirds is a 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization.

For more information or to apply for the scholarship, visit cascadewarbirds.org/scholarship.htm.