By Ted Luebbers, EAA 875984
EAA Chapter 534’s Aviation Youth Program meets on Saturdays at the Leesburg International Airport (KLEE) in Leesburg, Florida, to teach young people how to build and repair real airplanes. On Saturday September 9, 2018, the project of the day was to build and mount flying wires to the tail of their ongoing project, a damaged Mini-Max, and to hang the rudder.
Teaching in these sessions is often one-on-one as it was this day with Marty Harris, EAA 445422, and Ethan Ratta, EAA 1272607. They’re from totally separate generations, but their 60-year age difference vanishes when they work together on an airplane.
This is age and experience teaming up with youth to get the job done. This is how learning takes place at the chapter’s Aviation Youth Program.
In this photo, Ethan is using a heat gun on the shrink tubing to make a nice neat swage on the end of a flying wire. That shows a lot of trust on Marty’s part.
It may only be Ethan’s legs that are visible as he works on adjusting the rudder pedals in the Mini-Max, but his intense enthusiasm couldn’t be clearer.