Through 'Eagles Nest', Students Build And Fly Van's RV-12s

By Maxine Scheer

Aviation education initiatives at the high school level are being featured at EAA AirVenture 2014, and include new aircraft building initiatives, featured adjacent to the Home Builders  Hangar in an area with a banner, "Teen Aircraft Building".

ANN attended a forum on Monday, led by Mr. Bob Kelly (pictured), founder of an aircraft building initiative, 'Eagles Nest'.  The program provides students an opportunity to build a "real" airplane (RV-12), and at most campuses an opportunity to learn to fly it. "Adults watch kids build the airplanes," said Kelly, "only 2% of the work is done by adults." 

Through the words of Eagles Nest students, forum attendees learned about the program's progress and impact. One by one, students talked about how the project taught them teamwork, built their confidence, and inspired interest in learning to fly. "It's hard to describe how much you get from this," said Ross Porter, the first student to earn a pilot certificate, "it changed my life."

"We build kids," said Kelly, "the airplane is a nice by-product."

As noted by Eagle’s Nest President-Director, R.E. “Ernie Butcher”, “Eagles Nest is an education program conducted as a fully accredited course study in public and private high schools. While our program provides students instruction and practical experience in aerospace engineering, building techniques, and flight instruction, aviation is our "hook" and education is our mission."

One parent, Scott Malcomb, an instructor at jetBlue University in Orlando, was credited by Butcher with bringing Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) to the Eagle's Nest program at Central Christian School, a private school in Orlando, FL. "Eagle’s Nest Projects receive a lot of support from the community," said Malcomb. "At Circle Christian we put the word out for mentors for the first project and didn't know what to expect. We had 50 students, and 200 adults showed up at the first meeting."

Also highlighted was Eagle’s Nest’s Clear Springs High School campus, is also a Project Lead the Way certified campus for engineering studies in the Clear Creek Independent School District, in League City, TX, located near NASA Johnson Space Center.

Four completed Eagle's Nest aircraft were flown to AirVenture 2014. Two RV-12s, built by Clear Springs students, carried Veronica Hardy and Paige Jones. Veronica recalls having been interested in engineering and science at an early age and inspired by her father, an aerospace  engineer for a large defense contractor. Veronica graduated in June and is going on to attend Texas A&M to study mechanical engineering. Her goal is to also obtain her private certificate before graduating.

Paige Jones (pictured) thought about flying on her first commercial flight. "Until this project, I never thought I'd actually get to fly. I didn't have anyone in my family who was into aviation," said Paige, "but my mom was tough, and someone invited me to take a flight and that opened up everything. Part of building a plane is to show we [girls] can do it and take the controls, right?" Paige is certain she wants to be a pilot.

Veronica and Paige each described riveting as their favorite part of the building process and pointed to areas of each aircraft as 'their work'. "The aircraft were built inside the school doors during class periods, and took approximately 7 months to complete," said Veronica. Students are paired with mentors and take related course-work in an engineering elective. Both young women also mentioned the confidence and teamwork building skills.

When asked about getting more young women into aviation, one of Veronica's suggestions was to conduct outreach in places outside of the engineering-centric programs. "If they go to different places, and girls have women mentors, they will feel more welcomed."

Paige suggested better advertising to get women interested and "motivate them to show they can do things just as well as men." She also suggested starting earlier, "maybe go more to elementary schools, when they are impressionable."

"Friends of the RV-1, Inc.," a 501(c)(3) Public Charity is sponsor of Eagle's Nest Projects.

FMI: www.eaglesnestprojects.org