Hooper Bay high school students are building an airplane for an experimental class that federal aviation officials hope eventually will address a shortage of home-grown pilots in rural Alaska.
Organizers say the project could be a perfect fit for the Western Alaska village and others where jobs are scarce and nearly everything arrives by plane. A Dallas-based company recently donated parts for the two-seater at the request of Build A Plane, a California nonprofit that puts aircraft-building materials into students' hands.
The Thorp T-211 light sport plane began arriving in the Yup'ik village of 1,200 last month, packed in boxes containing aluminum sheets, rivets, instructions and other parts, said Grant Funk, a flight instructor who teaches one of the state's few high school ground courses.
About 15 students will rivet together the wings and fuselage in a shop class this fall, Funk said. But some are giving up their summer afternoons to assemble smaller sections like the rudder and flaps.
Aviation jobs such as commercial pilots and aviation mechanics are in demand statewide, officials say. Between 2004 and 2014, for example, the industry will need 167 new pilots, according to a state Department of Labor estimate. That's a 30 percent increase, making the profession one of the state's fastest-growing.
WINGS FOR THE BUSH
In the Bush, where planes link villages that lack highways, not enough locals are becoming pilots, said Angie Slingluff, an aviation and space education coordinator for the Federal Aviation Administration. Instead, the jobs go to visiting pilots who stay briefly, building flight time before moving to bigger markets.
She's created a committee with Build A Plane officials, village pilots and others in part to get rural residents behind the yokes of planes. The hope is they'll stay in their region, improving safety as they build experience flying in rural Alaska's tough conditions, she said.
A key committee goal is exporting the plane-building project to other villages once Hooper Bay develops a curriculum. It will get kids excited about school and give them skills to become pilots, aviation mechanics and engineers, Slingluff said.
"This is a lot bigger than just building an airplane," she said.
Graduation rates in rural Alaska high schools often fall below the state average of about 60 percent, which itself ranks well below the nation's norm.
In Hooper Bay, only 27 percent of students who started high school four years before graduated last year, said Rich Patton, an assistant superintendent for the Lower Yukon School District.
The idea of donating plane parts to Bush high schools took flight during a conversation with FAA Commissioner Marion Blakey, said Lyn Freeman, Build A Plane president. Industry officials in Alaska pointed Freeman to Funk's class in Hooper Bay.
IndUS Aviation, a supporter of the plane-building projects, agreed to donate the plane parts from the company's manufacturing plants in Dallas and India, said owner Ram Pattisapu. The "Thorpedo" sells for $96,000, he said.
Legendary aircraft designer John Thorp created it 60 years ago, then used the design to build the four-seater Piper Cherokee, Pattisapu said.
The Thorp T-211 cruises at 130 mph and is very safe, in part because it doesn't stall into a spin, a common cause of airplane crashes, he said.
FLYING BY SPRING
Funk, who's taught aviation courses at the high school for five years, said parts of the plane are slowly arriving.
He plans to give flight lessons in the plane once it's built next spring, giving students the chance to earn a sport pilot's license, a precursor to a private pilot's license. By then, the "Thorpedo" should be decked out in the school's yellow and gold, with a Warriors mascot on the tail.
The flying lessons won't be part of the high school curriculum, so the school won't be liable for accidents, said Funk.
Making a plane will help students grasp the math and physics behind flight, give them a reason to stay in school and create career opportunities, he said.
"It raises the bar for them."
At the high school last Tuesday, six kids clattered together an aileron -- wing flaps that bank the plane left or right -- using a pneumatic rivet gun, Funk said.
"Building a plane is, like, really fun," said Walter Naneng, 15, as a rivet gun rang in the background.
He wants to fly in the region one day, he said.
Paul Smith, a 17 year-old senior, said he passed his ground-school test last year and needs air time to get a pilot's license. He plans to fly the plane as soon as it's ready.
"Being a pilot's always been my dream," he said.
Find Alex deMarban online at adn.com/contact/ademarban or call 257-4310.
