By Charlotte Nultemeier, Editor-in-Chief
Wooden crates full of thousands of parts, multiple sizes of washers, rivets, nuts and screws, wiring for avionics and navigation systems, fuel lines for the engine.
That’s what students in First Flight High School’s Aviation class had on their minds for the past three years. Every vital part, from the smallest to the largest, had been carefully screwed in, hammered down and put into place, yielding a finished product of a Tango Flight-provided classic RV-12iS Van’s Aircraft kit plane.
The unveiling of the plane landed on Dec. 17 – the 122nd anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight – and marked a special day for these high school students, their proud parents and other esteemed members of the community, including mentors and National Park Service employees. The event at the Wright Brothers National Memorial that celebrates the first flight each year included a number of special speeches, including one that praised the Aviation instructor, retired Rear Adm. JT Tynch.
[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”31″ display=”imagebrowser”]“He is the driving force behind the program’s success,” Dare County Schools Superintendent Steve Basnight said. “His unique military background, enthusiasm and leadership have created an impactful learning environment where students not only study aviation and engineering, but also develop leadership, discipline and problem-solving skills that will serve them well throughout their lives.”
Tynch shared his enthusiasm and pride for the students during the ceremony.
“It’s a great morning to celebrate the inspiration the Wright Brothers gave us all and the fantastic work your classmates from First Flight High School have done,” Tynch said. “All the hard work, the blood, sweat and tears they have put into this aircraft, we couldn’t be more proud of them.”
That work was spread out over two and a half years of class time with three sets of students, including a number of recent graduates who returned for the ceremony. Basnight said that, before the ceremony, he and Scott Babinowich — Chief of Interpretation and Visitor Services for the NPS Outer Banks Group — were thinking back to the initial conversations about the project so long ago.
“I am lost for words. It seems like yesterday when we were having these first conversations about the possibility of students in high school building an airplane on the site of the first airplane to leave the ground,” Basnight said. “The fact that we’re standing here today and (the plane) is sitting there under that canopy, it just gave us chills.”
Babinowich compared this group of students to the Wright brothers, stating they had the same ingenuity, genius and dedication. He also remarked how proud the National Park Service has been to participate in this adventure.
The plane was built across the street from the high school in a former NPS maintenance building that was given a major upgrade to assist with the build. While there was excitement over the idea from when it was initially proposed, Babinowich and NPS Outer Banks Group Superintendent David Hallac also realized that plenty of hard work was to come.
“I don’t want to speak for Superintendent Hallac in this, but I think from our perspective, what an awesome and amazing idea, what a unique way to connect our local students to the history and the stories right in their backyard — literally right out the back door of the school,” Babinowich said. “While we were all smiles around the table, it was not going to be an easy task to accomplish. We needed to find a place to build the airplane. We brainstormed and our park maintenance team came together from all three parks here in the Outer Banks to build a brand new aviation laboratory.”
This laboratory had humble beginnings.
“There was this lean-to roof, no front, no back, dirt floor (shed) where there were lawn mowers parked,” Basnight recalled. “And (Hallac) said, ‘I think we could close this in.’ What it turned into is what we refer to as ‘the lab.’ It is closed in, it is heated, it is concrete floored and it has served just beyond our imagination.”
As the plane neared completion, excitement mounted both for the students and everyone who had been along for the ride.
“It has been an honor to aid in this journey and to use this park and its stories to inspire a new generation to follow in the footsteps of Orville and Wilbur Wright,” Babinowich said.
Senior Alex Sharp, who took Aviation for three years, spoke to the crowd about students, teachers and mentors coming in on weekends and after school hours just to make their deadlines. Alumnus Logan Botson, who had hoped to see the plane finished last spring, shared that the hard work and memories that came with it made the effort worth it.
“It was really cool making history with the boys,” Botson said.
When all the speeches were finished, all eyes were drawn to the plane as students and helpers gathered around to raise the tarp and show off their shiny creation — a plane built where the Wright brothers once walked. A plane that, once final testing and certifications are complete, will fly faster and higher than the Wrights could have dreamed.
Tynch, a longtime Naval aviator, also couldn’t help but focus on the connection between his students and the Wrights.
“I think the Wright brothers are smiling as they look down on this group of young men and women who have built this airplane,” Tynch said.
Senior Editor-in-Chief Charlotte Nultemeier can be reached at NultemeierCh7032@daretolearn.org.
