Scholarship Named in Honor of Fallen U.S. Air Force Thunderbird Pilot

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Broward College aviation student and aspiring pilot, Skylor Liu, recently received the Stephen “Cajun” Del Bagno Memorial Scholarship. The newly established scholarship was created in honor of Del Bagno, a fallen U.S. Air Force Thunderbird pilot, and aims to support aspiring aviators at Broward College.

“We are unbelievably honored to be a part of this scholarship and to have this level of exposure,” said Joe Del Bagno, Stephen’s father.

The scholarship will be awarded each spring and can be used for flight fees and tuition. Recipients are invited to attend the Fort Lauderdale Air Show and are also invited to attend aircraft arrivals and social events with the pilots during the annual event.

The scholarship was created because Bryan Lilley, the chairman of the National Air, Sea, and Space Foundation (NASSF), who knew Stephen, was devastated by his death and wanted to create a scholarship in his honor.

“We got to meet Skylar. He was everything our son was and just had this passion, had this desire. He was just really enthusiastic about flying, and we were really glad that he was the one who ended up with the scholarship,” said Cindy Del Bagno, Stephen’s mother.

Liu, who dreams of ultimately working for JetBlue or Spirit Airlines one day, said he is very thankful to the National Air, Sea, and Space Foundation.

“They’re really helping me propel my flight training to the next level,” said Liu. “It’s going to help financially and their partnership with Broward [College] is going to be really great because it can help students like me help pay for their flight training.”

Students must be in the Professional Pilot Technology program, be U.S. citizens or residents, 18 years of age or older, have a 3.0 GPA or higher and hold an FAA Private Pilot Certificate with Instrument Rating. Students who apply are interviewed by an internal panel and asked to write an essay on why they want to fly.

Since Del Bagno believed in “the 4 P’s to Prosperity” (finding your Passion that will give you Purpose, be Persistent in your approach and be Personable, humble, credible, and approachable), these are some of the qualities that the Del Bagnos would also like to see in the scholarship recipients.

“And somebody who’s a self-motivated, an individual that he or she is just looking for more and needs help getting there,” said Joe Del Bagno.

Aside from Broward College, the Stephen Del Bagno “Cajun” Memorial Scholarship is also available at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT).

Students studying in the pilot program at the Emil Buehler Aviation Institute on Broward College’s South Campus, adjacent to the North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, are trained by FAA-certified flight instructors on new, state-of-the-art flight simulators. Training programs are in partnership with Phoenix East Aviation.

Students can earn their Professional Pilot Technology AS degree or various FAA flight certificates including Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Multi-Engine Rating, Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) and Certified Flight Instructor Instrument (CFII).

If you or someone you know is interested in a career in aviation, you can earn either an Associate of Science, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Applied Sciences or certificates at Broward College today. Visit broward.edu/aviation for more information.   

Bryan Lilley (left), Chairman, NASSF; Skylor Liu, Broward College Cajun Scholarship recipient; Joe Del Bagno, Cindy Del Bagno, Nathan "Sheik" Malafa, US Airforce Thunderbirds Commander/Leader.  

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