Scholarship Transforms Hurt to Hope and Shapes Futures

"Let your hope not your hurt shape your future." — Tailwinds of Hope website

A scholarship established through Tailwinds of Hope, the Zachary Michael Capra Memorial Foundation, is an act of generosity that transforms the lives of flight students at Embry-Riddle.

Zachary Capra’s family established the nonprofit to honor the memory of their son, a College of Aviation student on the Daytona Beach Campus. He died on April 4, 2018, when his small-engine plane crashed just after takeoff during his final check ride for his commercial pilot’s license. Federal Aviation Administration examiner John Azma also died in the crash.

Zachary was so close to realizing his dream that John and Patsy Capra made the gracious decision to ensure goals were within reach of other hardworking, focused students like him. The Zachary Michael Capra Memorial Foundation awards scholarships to aspiring pilots at Embry-Riddle.

At the campus memorial service, John Capra issued a challenge: “We need more people to step up and be the person Zach was.” The family soon decided they needed to be leaders by creating a meaningful and lasting legacy. In recognizing the things Zachary loved, his namesake scholarship allows those who never knew him to still experience his spirit of service, determination and friendship. Four years aboard the USS Harry S. Truman and two tours in Iraq, working alongside pilots and completing more than 10,000 launches and recoveries, heightened his interest in aviation and his habit of looking out for those around him.

In meeting other Eagles, the Capra family was reminded of the financial challenge that Zachary faced, even with the G.I. Bill to help him with tuition. “We met students taking semesters off to save up for flight time, so we knew a scholarship could ease that burden. It is what Zach would have done if he could have. He cared about everyone else more than himself. Friends told us that he texted them almost every day just to check on them.”

Zachary is remembered in an annual trail run in Daytona Beach and a fundraising “Captain Caps” golf tournament in Colorado. The Capra family also hopes to create a fundraising gala and a memorial site for all fallen Eagles on the Daytona Beach Campus.

John Capra remembers, “Zach wanted everyone around him to succeed.” Through the scholarship that bears his name, this is soon to come true for a fourth student.

The Capras had no chance to say goodbye and wish their son, “Fair winds and following seas.” However, through their foundation, they speed other pilots toward a future in aviation with a mighty tailwind.