“Help Some Kids Build A Plane--Here’s a chance to make

A big difference in the future of general aviation”

By Lyn Freeman  Plane&Pilot Magazine

(Reproduced with permission of the author)

There are days when the future of general aviation looks bleak to me, and I fear that the sport and even the lifestyle I love are in trouble. As the cost of flying has continued to climb, the simple fact is that fewer and fewer people get to play. In many parts of the country, new airplanes cost more than new houses. Small wonder you don’t see many young people at the airport anymore. And that’s sad because many of my most cherished childhood memories are recollections of flying all over the Southwest with my father in a Piper Clipper.

Exacerbating the decline of general aviation is a mind-set among much of the non-flying public that little planes are virtual death traps. Who would want to crawl in one, only to run a strong risk of becoming a feature story on the six o’clock news?

One day, I began to wonder what would happen if there was a program that exposed young people, especially teenagers, to aviation. My hat is off to the absolutely amazing accomplishments of the Young Eagles program, but an eight-year-old who’s thrilled by his or her first airplane ride probably has a lot of years to go before even making aviation a hobby. High school kids, however, are at an age when they’re naturally beginning to consider what they want to do when they grow up, both vocation and avocation. It’s a formative time when we naturally begin to assemble the pieces of who we’re to become as adults.

So what if there was a program that offered young adults the opportunity to roll up their sleeves and get involved in general aviation? Guided by mentoring adults, what if they could restore or build a real airplane? Such a project would offer limitless
Possibilities—a chance to learn about the physics of lift, aerodynamics, radios, navigation, satellites, global positioning, electronics, metallurgy, composites, engines, and on and on. Why not encourage young people to build a plane? Wouldn’t it make sense that, for at least some kids, it would begin a lifelong love of aviation?

One afternoon in Batavia, Ohio, I shared my idea with Hal Shevers, owner of Sporty’s. Many of you may not know this, but Shevers is not only one of aviation’s most successful entrepreneurs, he’s also one of aviation’s biggest philanthropists, having donated an immense amount of time and money to causes for the betterment
of aviation. Within a week, Shevers had presented the Build A Plane idea to the local EAA chapter. Almost two dozen adult members immediately offered to mentor a Build A Plane program. Shevers donated space for the group to meet and work, the EAA chapter offered the opportunity to local kids, and within a matter of weeks, the first Build A Plane project began.

“We got started right away because Tim Fry, who was the chapter president, donated the rudder from a GlasStar III,” says chief mentor Tom Jenkins. Chapter member Wayne Messmer, who had several years’ experience of building high-performance composites in Florida, joined the project in a heartbeat to show the kids how to do the fiberglass lay-up. “The kids show up each week like clockwork,” Messmer says, “and one kid even brings his dad with him.”

Because the EAA chapter has nonprofit status as a 501(c)(3)—an ongoing educational nonprofit organization—it enables them to offer significant tax benefits to the donor of their next project, a classic Luscombe. “It had been sitting in a barn for many years and has some metal fatigue and corrosion. It’s a perfect project,” Messmer grins. The goal is for the young adults to completely restore the Luscombe so it can ultimately go on display in a museum.

“We see this as an outreach program to the community,” Jenkins says. “We’ve been looking for something like this to do for a while now.” EAA Chapter 174 and Aviation Explorer Post 78 are now opening up the project to young adults all across the region to give them a chance to build a plane.

So, here are some simple facts:

• There are thousands of aircraft around the country that are
no longer flown or unairworthy—prime candidates for a project
• There are thousands of kit
planes in garages, basements and backyards, enthusiastically
purchased, but never built
• Aircraft owners can receive significant tax credit for donating their planes to a nonprofit Build A Plane program
• There are thousands of adults who have expert knowledge in all areas of aircraft construction and refurbishment
• There are thousands of people in this country who may not have the time or expertise to
participate, but would love to contribute supplies, tools, aircraft, advice or financial support
• There are thousands of kids who would love the opportunity to join in—maybe even yours!

If you’d like to sponsor or be part of a Build A Plane project in your area, please contact me.  ( Lyn Freeman, Plane & Pilot Magazine, 12121 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 1200, Los Angeles, CA 90025, (310) 820-1508, ext. 757, e-mail: lynfreeman@wernerpublishing.com.)

I’ll put the pieces together as they come in, serving as a clearinghouse for people and projects across the country, wherever they begin to happen. I’m a true believer that aviation is one of the great blessings of our time, and I want to see future generations come to love and appreciate the gift of flight as much as we do. While some of us might blush at admitting it, when it’s all said and done, we’d all like to make a difference in the world. Let’s make the Build A Plane project “take wing.”

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