In late August EAA held the second work party for its volunteer Lockwood AirCam build, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of EAA’s Young Eagles program through the construction of an airplane that will fly youths out of EAA’s Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh.
This work party was particularly special due to the attendance of 14-year-old Alan Palmer, EAA 1077476, himself a Young Eagle from Chapter 983 in Texas.
Alan has his sights set on homebuilding an RV-12, and has already begun saving for the tail section of the kit. So when his dad, Keith, EAA 1214539, received an e-mail from EAA looking for volunteers participate in the AirCam build, he placed a call to Oshkosh.
“When we heard about this we said ‘Wow, what a great experience,’” Keith said. “We didn’t know if they would consider a 14-year-old so I called Charlie [Becker, EAA staff and organizer of the AirCam build] up and said ‘Hey, you’re probably looking for adults I would assume, but would you consider a 14-year-old?’”
Charlie said let’s go for it, so Keith and Alan made their way to Oshkosh.
Alan said participating in the AirCam build has been helping to prepare him for the type of work he will need to do for his RV-12.
“[I’ve done] riveting, clecoing,” he said. “This is the same type of rivet the RV-12 uses.”
Alan and his dad started out with a pile of parts at the beginning of the week and, with the exception of fabric covering, closed out with a near-complete rudder section.
“He was really the reason for coming up here; I’m just the chaperone,” Keith said. “It totally just made his summer.”