Sky’s (Literally) the Limit for James Sullivan, Winner of The 2011 Go Daddy .ME Scholarship

James Sullivan, currently a sophomore at the prestigious Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, may one day be the person flying your plane – if you’re lucky.

This extremely talented young man is the winner of last year’s Go Daddy .ME Scholarship, as well as the founder of AnswersForPilots.com, the online resource for aviation information. Working as the youngest intern ever at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), James noticed “that the AOPA was lacking an important learning tool, this being an indexed question and answer format database for users to collaborate on.” The subsequent work on this page is what made him one of 10 winners of the prestigious scholarship, nation-wide.

He talks to us about turning his dreams of flying into reality, working with his brother, balancing a demanding academic schedule with maintaining his website, and much more:

Many kids are fascinated with airplanes and dream of becoming pilots, but not a lot of those dreams translate into pursuing a career in the industry. When and how did you develop an interest for aviation?

I developed my interest in aviation at a young age, and have been perusing this passion ever since. I attribute my young interest in aviation to a series of transatlantic flights during my early years. I would occasionally be invited into the cockpit by pilots who were eager to share their career work with me. At age 11, for my birthday, I took a discovery flight out of Boeing Field (KBFI) in Seattle, WA and took the controls of a Cessna 172 for the first time. From this point on, I knew I had the bug and could only be satisfied by a career in aviation.

What helped translate those dreams into reality?

I think a combination of a fortunate and nurturing upbringing, and a passion to achieve my aviation goals helped to translate these goals into a reality. Additionally, it is well understood the importance of networking in aviation. This is becoming true in all modern professional fields, and motivated youth need to be prepared to network and self-promote. I have no doubt in my mind that networking has helped me translate my dreams into reality.

The work you do on AnswersForPilots.com is quite impressive. How did the idea start out? What’s it like working with your brother, Sam?

The idea for our website came to me while I was working as a young intern for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). AOPA is a membership based, professional pilot organization. I had the rewarding opportunity to work for their Pilot Information Center in 2009. It was during this time that I realized despite their plethora of resources, AOPA lacked one vital learning tool. This was a place for aviation professionals to ask and answer one another’s questions on a public message board. So I drafted the help of my younger brother Sam, at the time 14 years old, and together we developed AnswersforPilots.com.

I really enjoyed working on the project with my brother. It definitely brought us closer, and has led to several other joint-venture web projects. I think the fact we are family made working on a project together, while living in different states, much easier to cope with.

What would you say is or was the most challenging aspect of maintaining AnswersForPilots.com? What are you most proud of?

I think the most difficult part of maintaining AFP is both funding the hosting and registration costs of the website; and providing constant fresh material while balancing a busy offline schedule. I have two groups to thank specifically for alleviating these stresses: First I would like to thank our donors. Donations have managed to keep AFP an advertisement free, non-profit website; as any education tool should be. Secondly, I must thank my dozens of guest writers, who together have helped keep my blog interesting and brought back several repeat readers.

In addition to lightening your financial burden for Riddle, has winning this scholarship influenced you in any other way?

More important than lightening my financial burden, this scholarship enabled me to continue in my flight training. I arrived at ERAU with my Private Pilot’s License (PPL) and could afford the cost of tuition, but I had no money to continue my flight training. This fact was difficult for me to swallow because I knew I was attending the “Harvard in the Sky” and I wanted to have flight training from my school. The scholarship was able to free up enough money that I could continue training; I began training for my instrument rating over the summer 2011, and completed my rating in October. My next step in flight training is a Commercial License which enables me to receive compensation for my flying. I hope to save the money needed to continue my training through a summer internship, or pay with the help of scholarships and loans. My ultimate goal would be to work as a corporate pilot and aircraft mechanic.

You’re done with your second year of college at Embry-Riddle. What advice would you have for incoming students, and what kind of work have you been involved in since arriving on campus?

The best advice for any incoming student is to keep an open mind to everything you see. I changed my academic major after two semesters of college, and more than half of first year students do too. There are many interesting things to discover in life, so don’t be afraid to follow what interests you and what feels right.

Since arriving on campus I have worked as a student assistant in the Aviation Safety office. This has opened several doors in networking, and has inspired me to pursue a career in aviation safety. I think it is important for students to find a special interest subject in school and find a way to get involved. It could be a club, after school job, organization, intermural sport, or other activity.

How do you balance all of your college obligations, extracurriculars and a budding social life with maintaining AnswersForPilots.com?

I find that I am someone who feels most calm and organized with a full schedule. It may sound counterintuitive, but bear with me. I feel that the busier I become, the more motivated I am to organize my schedule; this leads to better time management, and ultimately a more healthy use of any remaining “free time.” So my advice in this area would be to both stay busy, and stay organized. This is a personal mantra that rarely has me thinking “I’m bored.”

If you haven’t already been inspired to go out there and chase your dreams (highly improbable), James shares some inspirational words as well as advice for future GoDaddy’s .ME Scholarship applicants and technology-oriented students in general:

I would like to remind all GoDaddy applicants and young college goers to never let anything get in your way. I strongly believe that we can only achieve what we believe we can… so why doubt in oneself? I cannot count on both hands the number of times I have achieved something as a result of shear persistence and passion: jobs, scholarships, awards, professional and personal goals. So go out there and follow your dreams, this world is yours.