By Barbara A. Schmitz
EAA is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its first One Week Wonder during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2024.
In 2014, more than 2,500 people shared the building experience when they helped transform a Zenith CH 750 Cruzer kit into a flyable aircraft in just seven days by helping pull rivets. Then, in 2018, 100 core builders and more than 2,500 others helped to build a Van’s Aircraft RV-12iS kit in the same time period. The last kit built during AirVenture was a Sonex Waiex, built in one week in 2022.
Charlie Becker, EAA’s director of chapters and homebuilding, said the idea to do a build project during the weekly convention came when he was on the phone with the son of Sebastien Heintz of Zenith, who had orchestrated the construction of a Zenith kit in 1976 during EAA’s only eight-day fly-in and convention. “I said, ‘Your dad did this and I always wanted to do this at AirVenture,’ and the idea just caught fire,” he said.
Charlie said the One Week Wonders have accomplished more than he ever thought they could. “The projects not only catch the attention of our members, but also the people who come through our gates. There’s a reason we don’t do the build projects in the Homebuilts area; we’re not talking to people who already build their own planes. We’re talking to those who don’t appreciate how easy it is to build an airplane today with a modern kit.”
Charlie said that in 1976, the airplane was built mainly by skilled volunteers since kits were more primitive and people had to make a lot of the parts. “But today we have thousands of people pull rivets to show how easy it is to put one of these things together,” he said, adding that prefabricated parts are now the norm.
Charlie said EAA does build projects once every four years for two reasons. One is the amount of work they take by EAA and the kit manufacturer. Two, four years is the right cadence to get everyone’s attention, he said.
During AirVenture, the 2014-built Zenith CH 750 Cruzer was on display on Boeing Plaza Monday, and then moved and tied down in the Homebuilts area by other Zeniths for the remainder of the fly-in.
Charlie said the next One Week Wonder will be built during AirVenture 2026.