Two groups of high school students recently completed the Two Weeks to Taxi program at the Glasair factory on time. The kids built two Sportsmans and watched as each one was fired up, taxied, and then flown on its maiden test flight. It was the first time any of the kids had been involved in building airplanes.
“It was a remarkable experience for everyone involved,” said Peter Bunce, CEO of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), who was there for the two weeks and worked side by side with the students. “They were great to work with. The kids were focused, hard-working and enthusiastic. They were involved in every aspect of the build, and mastered tasks such as bucking rivets, installing windows, connecting the panel, wiring the engine and linking the controls. There was no part of it they couldn’t handle. It was a challenge keeping up with them.”
The program was co-sponsored by Build A Plane.
The two girls and six boys came from high schools in Michigan and Minnesota. To be selected for the program, the teams had to submit an aircraft design to a panel of judges selected by GAMA. As winners, they were flown to Seattle and housed in an Arlington motel for the two weeks. The kids and their chaperones were treated to side trips to the Boeing assembly plant in Everett, Wash., a flightline ramp tour at SeaTac airport, and the Seattle Museum of Flight. During the construction process they were also given flights in a Glasair Sportsman aircraft, a surprise flight to Lake Goodwin in a Sportsman Float plane, piloted by Everett Mellish a Glasair customer, and a gull wing Stinson, piloted by the president of Boeing Business Jets.
The plan is to complete the Phase One flight-testing and then fly the two Sportsmen to Oshkosh, Wis, for this month’s big show. The two groups of kids will be reunited with both planes at EAA’s AirVenture in July.
Wow, that’s fantastic. I hold both biology and aviation maintenance technologies degrees, and it makes me smile when I read stries like these. You see, most of the stuff you hear about hs these days on the news usually revolves about bullies, or hs fashion shows, etc. I truly hope these kids become interested in these fields, God knows we need them if we’re to remain competitive.
This is a great project to spark interest in aviation by young people. I was looking at the first photo in this article, and trying to determine what the student was working on and noticed the lack of safety glasses. As a 30+ year aircraft mechanic and safety instructor I hope this was just a staged photo opportunity.
Again I applaud the project and team members for working with the students.