By John Egan, EAA 336835, and Steve Socolosky, EAA 548724
For several years, EAA Chapter 166, located in Hartford, Connecticut, had been flying kids from a local aerospace-themed middle-high school. Inviting school kids to Young Eagles rallies not only provided the chapter with a continuous flow of aviation-minded youths at the events, it established a working relationship with the school. Little did the chapter know that the relationship it was establishing with the school would result in a terrific opportunity in a few short years.
Due to unfortunate circumstances in the district’s budget, the school needed to curtail a youth build program where kids in grades 6 through 12 were engaged in building a Van’s RV-12 airplane. As luck would have it, EAA Chapter 166 was ready to take on a youth build of its own, and being a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organization, the chapter was gifted the incomplete RV-12 project from the school. With the chapter being near the school, some of the kids not only assisted with the airplane’s relocation, but also are involved in building the airplane as chapter members.
Prior to pulling rivets on the airplane, EAA Chapter 166 president and youth build coordinator Steve Socolosky, along with chapter members, coached the kids on proper techniques and tool use. Steve shares the following:
“We first practiced basic skills on the Van’s toolbox kit. We made a bunch of them! Students learned how to inventory parts, as well as read, understand, and execute instructions/drawings. They understood the seriousness of their work and that people’s lives depended on it. The students rose to the occasion and were very good, conscientious builders. They knew that my help was limited to drilling out a bad rivet or modeling some unusual technique. THEY were responsible for building, checking, documenting, and rechecking their own work. The mistakes were minor (relatively low-cost, under $100) and became less frequent over time.
“To date, the students have completed the vertical fin, rudder, and wings, with work well underway on the stabilator, fuselage, and tail cone. The only kit left to purchase was the avionics package. Approximately 20 students migrated to the chapter with the project and were ecstatic that they can resume building and eventually form a flying club! Even the local FBO, Hartford Jet Center at Hartford-Brainard Airport (HFD), is letting us use space in one of its hangars to build our RV-12. Further proof of engaging in THE SPIRIT OF AVIATION!”