The Becki King Memorial Scholarship

The Wings Over Paradise Scholarship has been renamed to the Becki King Memorial Scholarship in memory of Becki King who earned her angel wings in September 2020. 

 Our chapter and local aviation community warmly remember Becki from her 16-year career as an air traffic controller at Page Tower at KFMY working for Robinson Aviation.  

Becki’s aviation career began in the United States Air Force as an air traffic controller, Becki retired with the rank of Master Sergeant, serving in the US and overseas. Prior to joining the aviation community in Florida she worked for Midwest Aviation as a controller and then manager of the Hutchison, Kansas control tower.

Becki was well known for her dry wit and calm voice on the 119.0. Students and experienced pilots fondly remember Becki as a kind voice over the radio; she was patient with pilots in flight training when they made mistakes flying in the busy traffic pattern, and also celebrated their successes.  

Becki socialized with area pilots on Hotdog Friday at Base Ops and spoke at aviation education seminars. She was a supporter of women in aviation, giving tours of the tower to our 99s chapter and donating her time, and energy to our chapter’s projects.  Becki volunteered to be the tower controller on duty during the Air Race Classic in 2010, launching race aircrafts at 20 second intervals from runway 31. As the race began Becki called out over the radio,

“It’s a sea of estrogen out there!”

While living in Florida, Becki was a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), a boater, and a dog owner. She also had a beautiful flower and fruit garden at her home in Lehigh Acres. After retirement she spent time in Colorado and Missouri until settling in Bella Vista, AR.

 

Becki’s support of the Ninety-Nines and aviatrix will live on through her memory and scholarship. 

This scholarship is dedicated to the late Becki King, who was an air traffic controller at Page Field, Ft. Myers, FL. Well known for her dry wit and calm voice, Becki was a longtime supporter of Paradise Coast 99s and women in aviation. This scholarship is offered by the Paradise Coast Chapter 99s for any phase of flight training (private pilot through ATP, including instructor ratings) to a qualified applicant residing in the state of Florida.

Additional requirements:

• Written test results, if applicable
• Notify us about the status of any other scholarship or grant applications that you have pending at the time of submitting this application.

Limitations:

• Must be a Florida resident - submit proof of Florida residency (e.g., driver’s license, voter registration, utility bill)

Other information:

• Preference is given to applicants who have passed the written test (if required for the rating).
• Be sure to include in your essay the projected cost of flight training and materials needed to earn the rating for which you are applying. 
• Please state how you are planning to fund the balance of your training, if you win this award.