His selection was announced at a function held at the Aero Club premises at Raglan Aerodrome on Friday night.

Another eight candidates will each receive a free one-hour flying lesson as a consolation prize.

The announcement was the culmination of two months of flight and theory testing and interviewing.

In all, 64 applications were received for the scholarship and all applicants completed a trial flight with an instructor to assess their skills.

The field was then reduced to just nine and the remaining applicants completed a theory course and an exam. They were then interviewed by a panel from the Aero Club and Smartair and the winner was selected.

Pilot and theory testing was carried out by Smartair chief flying instructor Erik Mol and flying instructor Damien Greaves.

Bathurst-based Smartair is a flying school, charter operator and aircraft maintenance organisation.

The winner of last year’s scholarship, John Downey, recently completed his training and is seeking a career in the Air Force.