EAA Chapter 1202 recognizes how crucial it is to get young people involved in aviation, so Chapter President Morgan Dunnavant, EAA 1099291, sought to find a partnership with a local school to supplement their STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) programs with aviation activities.
Morgan approached a couple of local public schools in the Farmville, Virginia, area, but none of them felt like the right fit. When he approached the Fuqua School, he got a much different answer.
“We pitched it to Fuqua, which is a private school, and they said, ‘Yeah, that would be a nice draw,’” Morgan said. “We’re doing it with the idea of reinforcing the STEM curriculum. Science, technology, engineering and math — what discipline do all of those aspects come together in constantly? Aviation.”
To give the students hands-on aviation learning experience, the chapter decided actually building an airplane would be the best coursework. So, for the past four years, local high school students have been working on a Zenith CH 750 with the help of some chapter mentors from Chapter 1202.
“The objective is to sell the airframe and re-invest the proceeds into another kit and start it over again,” Morgan said.
To accompany the hands-on part of the curriculum, Morgan has the students use the Aviation 101 online courses made available by the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University flight department, and the private pilot training available from King Schools if they come back for a second year of the program. There isn’t time to finish that up in class, but motivated students do have access to it outside of class hours during the semester.
In addition to coursework and homebuilding, Morgan makes sure that every student gets an opportunity to experience the best part of aviation — flight itself.
“I fly the students in my Maule MXT-180 and let them have the controls for a basic introduction to attitude flying so that they can experience some of what’s been presented in the class,” Morgan said.
Thus far, more than 30 students have taken part in the program, and Morgan estimates the airplane is 90 percent done — with 90 percent to go. Whether the group finishes the build or sells it and moves on first, Morgan is happy with how the program is going.
“The goal was not necessarily to finish the airplane, but to get the kids interested in aviation and get this iPhone, iPad, computer-based generation doing something in the real world instead of the virtual world,” he said. “The program is a wonderful thing.”