Marcel and Nick Mercier from Macy Industries along with a team of volunteers working with the Aviation Museum have an interest in helping students learn about the aviation industry. By volunteering, not only funds but also time the build a plane program will launch this year at Southern New Hampshire University. The goal of the program is to have the students build a two-seat light sport RV-12iS airplane (shown below) in less than one year.
The class will be building the airplane from a kit, the fabrication work completed on the kit is less than 50% of the total required work to complete the aircraft, and at least 51% of the work remains for the students.
Students, working with SNHU faculty and a team of volunteer mentors from the Aviation Museum, will start assembling the kit-based aircraft when school begins in September. Plans call for the plane to be completed by the end of the school year in June. Each week the students will be hands-on and building at the school. The RV-12iS fabricated is not for show, as the completed plane will take to the skies at the end of the year.
The revolutionary program has a goal to help students in a scalable way. By selling the students completed RV-12iS the program is intended to be self-funded. Making it more attractable for other colleges to offer this opportunity in the future.
We set up a plane last week so the students can see the result they will be working to achieve. The assembly was straightforward.
- Slide the left and right wing tabs into the slots on the main body.
- Secure both wings with large pins that go through both tabs and the body frame.
- Snap together and lock the electrical connections.
The plane is lightweight, and two people rolled the plane into place. The site of a plane on campus was enough to draw a crowd of interested students that were engaged and asked some great questions!
We will keep you updated on the progress the students make!
Public contributions are welcome and may be made through the Aviation Museum, 27 Navigator Road, Londonderry, NH 03053 or online at www.nhahs.org.
