Aspiring pilots from the Van Nuys youth flight program Kitty Hawk Squadron 3 were given the ultimate gift last month – an airplane.

Barak Raviv, philanthropist and financial adviser at Morgan Stanley’s Beverly Hills office, donated the single-engine, four-seat Cessna 172 aircraft last month to show his appreciation to the program that helped him land his own pilot’s license.

Raviv, 40, participated when he was a teenager and said it helped him accomplish his dream of flying.

“Fortunately, I’ve had a lot of success in my career and I wanted to give back to the organization,” he said.

Kitty Hawk was founded in 1951 and trains young people between the ages of 14 and 21 to fly at no charge thanks to its staff of volunteer instructors. It is subsidized by the North Hollywood Optimist Club. Until Barak’s donation, the group had only one Cessna aircraft.

“I was 19 so for me it was very exciting,” Raviv said. “I remember my first flight (lesson) and I was in a small plane flying over Los Angeles.”

Raviv recently purchased a Cirrus SR20 plane and wasn’t sure what to do with his old Cessna, the first aircraft he purchased. So he reached out to his former Kitty Hawk instructor who suggested Raviv donate the fixed-wing plane to the organization.

“They were very happy to get it,” Raviv said.

However, he noted the group is on the lookout for more instructors to take students up in the new plane and help meet demand.

“The question was whether they would have the capacity to fly the plane,” he said.

– Subrina Hudson