PACIFIC BEACH – Mission Bay High senior Aidan Kulij and junior Kiley Everett are spending their summer vacation pursuing their private pilot’s licenses.
Last spring, Everett and Kulij each received the 2025 EAA Ray Aviation Scholarship. This $12,000 merit-based scholarship helps fund flight training for these two aspiring young aviators as they pursue their private pilot’s licenses and a professional career as commercial pilots.
Both Everett and Kulij are members of the Young Eagles Program Chapter 14, located at Brown Field near the U.S.-Mexico border. Founded in 1965, the Young Eagles is a program that is dedicated to giving youth ages 8-17 an opportunity to go flying in a general aviation airplane.
These flights are offered free of charge through the generosity of EAA members.
Kulij distinctly remembers the moment he wanted to become a pilot. He was 10, on a United Airlines flight to London with his parents. He was fortunate to be able to meet the pilot in the cockpit, and even more fortunate to make the pre-flight announcement that he could repeat from memory: “Welcome aboard United Flight 8901. Today’s flight is 9 hours and 35 minutes. Sorry for the delay, but we will have a really good, smooth flight. Thank you.”
That experience cemented his dream to become an airline pilot.
“My family has a history with United Airlines. My great-grandfather worked in the kitchens, my uncle is an aircraft mechanic, and my dad works on the ramp,” Kulij said. “It is my passion to continue that legacy by becoming an airline pilot, and United Airlines is my first choice.”
Everett remembers becoming interested in aviation at the age of 12, through conversations with a family friend.
“Through research, my mom found the Young Eagles Program through the EAA Chapter 14 at Brown Field Municipal Airport,” Everett said. “I have been volunteering there (the Young Eagles at Brown Field) for the last four years, and I have learned a great deal about the aviation journeys of many long-time pilots.”
What does it take to earn a private pilot’s license? To earn a PPL, an individual must complete 40 hours of flight time, hold a third-class medical certificate (proving a person is medically fit to be in control of an aircraft), pass the FAA written exam, hold a student pilot certificate from the FAA, and complete a ground school course.
All applicants must then pass an “oral check” ride or examination with an instructor, and must complete three “cross country” flights of 150 miles each.
“Cross country means flying from one airport to another with a minimum distance of 75 miles one way and back again, totaling 150 miles,” Everett said. “We won’t be crossing country borders.”
For Everett and Kulij, the expenses associated with the individual lessons, oral check ride, examination fees, headsets, digital mapping formats, etc., are all reimbursable out of their $12,000 scholarship.
The Mission Bay students, along with other candidates, submitted their scholarship applications in late 2024. Each of their applications included a cover letter and a resume, along with a summary of their high school activities, personal hobbies, volunteering for Young Eagles, and letters of recommendation from EAA staff members.
They received their scholarships in February, and now both students’ paths forward as pilots are now much more achievable and manageable.
Mission Bay junior Kiley Everett (top left) and Mission Bay senior Aidan Kulij (top right) during one of their recent instructional training flights out of the Brown Field Municipal Airport as part of the Young Eagles Program. Bottom, from left, Kulij, Trinidad Lopez, president of the local EAA Chapter 14, and Everett at the February awards presentation of their $12,000 Ray Aviation Foundation Scholarship. (Photo by Nancy Kulij/Special to Beach & Bay Press)
During his senior year at Mission Bay, Kulij will be finishing his PPL in November or December. After high school, he plans on enrolling in the ATP (Aviation Training Program) at Miramar College in the fall of 2026. While taking classes at Miramar, Kulij will also continue to pursue additional ratings for his pilot’s license.
Everett will finish her PPL before graduation with the plan to enroll at San Jose State University in the College of Engineering’s Aviation and Technology program in the fall of 2027.
“As part of the program at SJSU, I will get my commercial professional pilot’s license and instrument rating,” Everett said. “Post-college, my long-term aviation goal is to work for one of the commercial airlines as a full-time pilot.”
Opportunities through Young Eagles
The Young Eagles offer opportunities for people ages 8-17 in San Diego County who may have an interest in aviation. The Young Eagles meet at Brown Field on the first three Saturdays of the month. It is the second Saturday of the month that the free flying experiences are offered to kids. Plan on arriving around 8:15 a.m. and signing in.
At 9 a.m., there is a welcome, a safety briefing, and an explanation of the Young Eagles Program.
Then the first flight happens. First, because you can return there monthly (every second Saturday) and fly again. While learning to fly may appear at first to be daunting and expensive, it can be manageable for a serious young person who wants to commit to aviation.
Families arriving at the Young Eagles rally on Saturday, July 12, said they found out about the program by word of mouth.
What is the EAA?
The Experimental Aircraft Association is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based out of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, but with local affiliates or chapters across the United States.
An EAA chapter is a group of aviation enthusiasts with interests ranging from aircraft building to engaging youth, to aviation safety, to vintage aircraft, ultralights, warbirds, aerobatic flight, and everything in between. Each chapter has its personality that is reflected in its members and local culture, but all chapters have one thing in common: a passion for aviation.
The EAA chapter based at Brown Field sponsors Everett and Kulij’s Young Eagles Program.
What are Young Eagles?
Launched in 1992, the Young Eagles Program (chapters.eaa.org/eaa14) has dedicated over 30 years to giving youth ages 8-17 their first free ride in an airplane. It’s the only program of its kind, with the sole mission to introduce and inspire kids to the world of aviation. Today, more than 2.5 million young people have had a free introductory flight through the Young Eagles Program.
These flights are made possible through the generosity of EAA member volunteers.
Ray Foundation
The Ray Foundation was established in 1963 by James C. Ray and his wife, Joan, both avid aviators. Witnessing the Dec. 7, 1941, attack at Pearl Harbor, James Ray enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He participated in many combat missions during WW II, including flying a B-17 with the 8th Air Force in the 1944 Allied D-Day invasion in France.
After the war, he served in the Air National Guard and continued to be involved in general aviation following his service years. James and Joan Ray believed that meeting the challenges of flight training, in addition to learning to fly a plane, teaches the critical life skill of self-discipline, builds character, and develops self-confidence.
In keeping with this spirit, the Ray Foundation seeks to encourage the development of human potential through supporting programs that develop these skills of self-discipline, self-confidence, and self-reliance on the part of the grant recipient.