Blue 7 Scholarship

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Last Updated: Jul 17, 2026, 08:52 AM

Zack Reising aka “Blue 7”

The Blue 7 Scholarship fundraiser was the brainchild of Zack Reising, a young man from Indiana who faces his own physical challenges and has his own ambitions to become a pilot. The focus of Zack’s effort was to raise $30,000 to fund an Able Flight scholarship in his name for three years. The name “Blue 7” comes from Zack’s appreciation for the Blue Angles flight team, and it has become Zack’s call sign.

With the help of Sam Pittman who organized the campaign, and with the promotion provided by Greg Mink, a pilot known on YouTube as “Premier 1 Driver”, the campaign kicked off late in 2021. By the time the campaign ended in late March of this year, the effort had raised over $47,000 in a combination of online donations and checks; making it the most successful online fundraiser in Able Flight’s history. And it should be noted that due to ethical rules and IRS regulations, Zack knew that the campaign wouldn’t result in a scholarship for him. He did this entirely to help others. But there will be the reward Zack has hoped for when he sees someone with a disability earn their license. And in July, Zack will be at the Able Flight Wings Pinning Ceremony at EAA AirVenture to personally pin pilot wings on the first recipient of the scholarship he funded!

Though the formal online campaign has come to a close, it’s still possible for you to make a contribution of any amount here. Just be sure to dedicate it to the Blue 7 Scholarship and your name will be added to the list of supporters of this scholarship. Able Flight thanks Zack, Sam, Greg and the more than two hundred donors listed below for making this campaign such a success.

Donors

$5000 AND ABOVE

Joseph Duerr

Scannell Development

$2500 AND ABOVE

Jeff & Melissa Reising

Greg Mink

$2000 AND ABOVE

Richard Minotte

$1500 AND ABOVE

Jeff Goldberg

$1000 AND ABOVE

Steve Pittman

John Rife

William Sturm

$500 AND ABOVE

Casey Jones

William Scott

James Richardson

ALL OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

  • Zack Reising
  • Raymond Lagasse
  • Gertrude Kussow
  • John Cole
  •  Lynn Pont
  • Karin MacDonald
  •  Alfred Plummer
  • Kelli Wilson
  • William Schmalzel 
  • Scott Williams
  • Kelli Allen
  • Morgan Collins
  • Tony Gray
  • Chris & Laura Yeakey 
  • David Wildermuth
  • Omer Yavetz
  • Kirk Quinn
  • Chris Nelson
  • Jeff McKinney
  • Fabio N
  • Jay Puff
  • Keith MacKenzie
  • Chris Clements
  • Jason Flannagan
  • Kevin Culver
  • Dennis Thurmond
  • Tyler DeSpain
  • Tyler Sorensen
  • Reid Wycoff
  • Eric Fogarty
  • Michael Baty
  • Paul Jelinek
  • Eric Welden
  • Matt Gogan
  • Mark Heckman
  • Andy Dietz
  • Rex Gulickson
  • Frank Gallo
  • Todd Rakofsky
  • Bob DeLing
  • Leigh Foster
  • Christopher Reynoldson
  • Timothy Palma
  • Michael Ehling
  • Randy Testa
  • Andrew Ramir
  • Tim Fagin
  • Brad Ralston
  • Roger Wyatt
  • John Hanson
  • Daniel Dalton
  • Warren Lyons
  • Barry Wawrin
  • Samuel Woodall
  • Dan Mettler
  • Randall Bowman
  • Rick Maitland
  • Jake Keado
  • Larry Grubbs
  • Joe Sobczak
  • Ronald Butler
  • George Batsche
  • Justin Lee
  • Sean Bower
  • Rob Sedgwick
  • Jeff Gerard
  • David Parkinson
  • Linda Reynolds
  • Tim Barnes
  • Matthew French
  • Stephanie Kornegay
  • Jay Stickler
  • Chris Vetter
  • Richard Huck
  • Justin Lightner
  • Rodger Slape
  • Gary Batesole
  • Kate Bernard
  • Carlos Serrano
  • Michel Delafontaine
  • Robert Julien
  • Eugene Macdonald
  • Rob Humphris
  • John Love
  • Diego Salas
  • Charles Turner
  • Brent Coker
  • Simon Cripps
  • Elmer Herda
  • Andrew Beard
  • Ronald Moore
  • Alexej Buchholz
  • Chuck Hoyt
  • Torrance Dean
  • Diamond Pispitsos
  • Bill Gilbert
  • Cliff Stansbery
  • Don Mays
  • Jeff Walker
  • Stephen Doherty
  • Greg Iszler
  • Chris Feaster
  • Matt Taylor
  • James Mollicone
  • Frank Agustini
  • Gary Helgemo
  • Jeff Goodridge
  • William Reedy

  • Sarah Manro

  • Becky Laschanzky
  • William Lakin
  • Larry Baye
  • Brian Garner
  • Mikko Pakkanen
  • Leland Crenshaw
  • Konrad Sitte-Zöllner
  • Christopher Green
  • Vitor Magro
  • Stanton Lesser
  • Mark Huddleston
  • David Blaskey
  • Gerrit Dekker
  • John Lynam
  • Tim and Donna McMillan
  • Joe Allman
  • David McLain
  • Rick Bunn
  • Christian Nichols

  • Rob McFarlan

  • Dustin Green

  • Chris Lamprecht

  • Roy Surratt

  • Rob Housley

  • Willie Chaffin

  • Gerry Foreman

  • Marc Freudenberg

  • Mike Perry

  • Philip Sterling

  • John Branson

  • Kevin Golden

  • Mark Ebden

  • Leo Nedza

  • Katherine Stewart

  • Matt Schumacker

  • Daniel Levy

  • David Nickerson

  • Michael Podzielinski

  • Steve Sowders

  • Ronald Jones

  • Robert Brightwell

  • Kay & Sean O’Toole

  • Jim Barr

  • Scott Mallin

  • William Scott

  • Evan McCall

  • Erich Wiemann

  • Jonathan Skeens

  • Justin Gusick

  • James McDonald

  • Art Hernandez

  • Kevin Heard

  • Bob Mink & family

  • Jessica Mason

  • Chuck Dreier

  • Amanda Fournier

  • Jason Miller

  • Jim Scroggs

  • Larry Sloate

  • James Wilhelm

  • Kyle Hurtley

  • Lori Miller

  • Tony Shipeck

  • Lance Bamburg

  • Donald Johnston

  • Matthew Henning

  • Jan Bergendahl

  • Stephen Whittaker

  • Armando Colpa

  • Keith Giannoni

  • Tim LaPosa

  • Aiden Fagundes

  • Mike Holliday

  • Richard Prince

  • Mike Roth

  • Charles Stites

  • Dan Sanchez

  • Jochen Treitel

  • Charles Wesley

  • Robert Maza

  • Nick Greed

  • Daniel Wesinger

  • Hector Velez

  • Max Weldon

  • Caroline Coss

  • Daniel Fwu

  • Andrew Dvorsky

  • Michael Peck

  • Clay Killion

  • The Moore Family Foundation

  • Bill Fihlman

  • Ed & Juliann LoSasso

  • John Long

A number of donors preferred to remain anonymous.