Build A Plane launches online auction

Build A Plane, a non-profit organization working in partnership with the FAA to promote aviation education, has launched its online holiday fundraising auction at BuildAPlane.org.

“We always find a lot of really great items to auction off each year,” Build A Plane’s Executive Director Katrina Bradshaw says. “This is the place to go for the hard-to-buy- for pilot, as well as anyone wanting to support Build A Plane’s work for the coming year.” Many items offered on the auction site end up selling for significantly less money than buyers would spend anywhere else, she adds.

Previous auctions have offered a variety of aviation items, from P-51 Mustang rides to fly-in vacations to satellite phones to great deals on avionics and pilot supplies.

Build A Plane’s annual auction ends Dec. 17, allowing items to be shipped to winning bidders before Christmas.

Build A Plane donates general aviation aircraft to high schools across the United States so that kids get a chance to build a real airplane. To date, Build A Plane has placed more than 170 planes in American schools with additional projects in India and Nigeria. “Currently we are averaging a donation every other week in 2010,” Bradshaw continued.

Proceeds from the auction are used to support all programs for the 501 (c) (3) organizations. In addition to facilitating aircraft donations, Build A Plane, in association with the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and EAA, sponsors Teacher’s Day at AirVenture Oshkosh each year. Teachers from around the country come to Oshkosh to learn new ways to use aviation as a teaching tool in their classrooms. Build A Plane also offers AeroScholars consisting of two online aviation courses that count for high school credit and help prepare students for pilot training.

“In addition to the auction being a major fundraising source for Build A Plane, we also have great fun trying to find unique aviation items to put into our auction,” Lyn Freeman, Build A Plane’s president, says. “New items will be listed every day. In fact, if any individuals or companies have anything they’d like to donate for us to sell at auction, we have plenty of time left to get the item posted and headed toward a new home!”

For more information: BuildAPlane.org, or eBay.com