EAA Chapter 15 is proud to announce the official start of the joint project between the chapter and St. Rita High School. The project: A Sonex Waiex.
Even though this was the second night of the ‘Tuesday Crew’ from St. Rita, it was the first evening that the kids had some hands on training of actually measuring, drilling, deburring, drilling, deburring, and riveting a couple of metal pieces together. Then we had them drill out the rivets at the end of the evening, only to undo the work they did. For most of the kids, this was their first time working with these types of tools and materials. And for everyone involved, except the project mentor, Bob Kopeika, none of them have experience building an airplane.
A little information about the project. Over the next 6 to 12 months, Saint Rita high school, with the oversight of the chapter, will be working on the Sonex at least one time per week. There are two sets of students, the Tuesday crew and the Wednesday crew. They will be alternating weeks on the project and they both will be working on separate portions of the plane: One group will work on the wings while the other group works on the fuselage. Even though it’s only one day a week, we will average between 10-14 man hours each evening.
This project wouldn’t be possible without the generous donation from a great gentleman down in the Ozarks. But first, we have to recognize fellow chapter member, John Limbach, for his match making skills. He was the one that stumbled upon this pile of metal and brought it to the attention of Chapter 15. After a few calls to Missouri explaining what the chapter wanted to accomplish, a deal was struck and we were on our way, a couple weeks later, too acquire the kit.
We also want to recognize Saint Rita’s head sponsor of the project, Todd ‘coach’ Kuska. Without diving into the history of EAA Chapter 15 and Saint Rita, Coach re-established the Aviation club at his school. For someone without an aviation background, it’s a huge step in to the unknown. We also have to thank the administration at St. Rita for supporting Coach and his students on this memorable journey they are about to take. It’s not everyday that a student has the opportunity to build something from scratch with their peers, like an airplane, and have the opportunity to actually fly it. To most, that’s mind blowing, to them it’s a dream.
Lastly, the most important participants of this project are the current and future donors. Without them, this journey with the students at St. Rita wouldn’t be possible. Even though we have the kit, we’re still in need of many parts to complete the Sonex. 2 of the most important items are the avionics and the powerplant (motor). Those happen to be the most expensive parts of the project and the most critical. Without them, the plane will never get off the ground.
So over the next few months, our chapter and the school will be actively looking for those items, either through a physical donation or a monetary donation toward the costs. We have 2 goals for this project: be 100% completed by the youths and; to be 95%+ donation driven.
Also, we have to give a shout-out to Sonex, LLC. We contacted Mark Schaible back in August making him aware of our project with the students and he’s given us his blessing… along with any help we need along the way. He said his line was open, maybe he’ll rethink that when we get to the nitty gritty.
One question that is always asked: when do you think this will be completed? Well, we set a lofty goal of AirVenture 2025. We know it’s going to be tough, but we think we have the dedication of the students to get this done. But of course, the avionics and the motor are deciding factors. Hopefully, if it’s not fully completed, we will at least have everything but those two items ready to show the world in July.