AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2013 - 58

A retired technical writer
for Cummins Inc., GA pilot, and
builder of an RV–9A, Kelly believed
high school kids were capable of
building an RV–12 with proper
supervision. He pitched the idea at
many schools and collected lots of
polite rejections.
Then, finally, teacher DeBose
at Jennings County High School
called and said he was ready to
start. Could they begin Tuesday?
Kelly, 69, and a local business
owner bought the first RV–12
sub-kits from Vans Aircraft to get
things going. Later, Ernie Butcher
of League City, Texas, funded the
entire Eagle’s Nest program and
fronted the full $75,000 cost of a
new RV–12 kit including engine,
propeller, and avionics.
Eagle’s Nest started aircraft
construction in January 2011, and
the students built the fuselage and
tail at their high school. The wings
took shape in a donated workshop
at the North Vernon airport. Porter
focused on the rudder and the vertical stabilizer, and he knew his
work had to meet more than minimum standards.
“You learn accountability,
craftsmanship, and pride when

58 | AOPA PILOT May 2013

you build an airplane,” he said. “It makes
you thorough because you know someone’s life is going to depend on everything
being done right. You can’t cut corners.”
The success of the Jennings County
kids convinced Kelly and Butcher that the
program was repeatable elsewhere. In late
2012, several more high schools launched
Eagle’s Nest RV–12s, and airplanes are
under construction in Houston; Lafayette,
Indiana; and Puyallup, Washington.
Others are likely to begin soon in Florida
and several other states.
Youth programs such as Build-a-Plane
have had success refurbishing donated
project aircraft. Kelly said Eagle’s Nest
chose to build new RV–12s in an effort to
develop a curriculum, standardize construction and tooling, and use the existing
network of experienced RV builders.
A second Indiana high school, the
Patriot Academy, started an RV–12, but
the high school itself was closed before
the airplane was finished. Six of the
Jennings County High School underclassmen who had been involved in Eagle’s
Nest One signed up to complete this second RV–12, and it’s rapidly taking shape
in the same workshop that gave birth to
the first one.
Porter is once again coordinating their
efforts, and the six students meet three
times a week from 3:30 p.m. until 6:30.

“Things are going a lot faster
the second time around because
this time we know what we’re
doing,” he says wryly. “We’ll have
no trouble being finished in time
for Oshkosh this year, none at all.”
The second RV–12’s wings
are finished, the fuselage is on
its landing gear, and the students
are getting ready to install the
100-horsepower Rotax engine and
avionics. The first RV–12 took about
2,000 kid hours to build. The second is likely to take about 1,200.
Porter, a senior, has arranged
an internship at the North Vernon
airport and gets to spend additional time on aircraft construction
two days a week. Instead of building control surfaces, this time he’s
focused on avionics. “The Dynon
Skyview in this airplane absolutely
blows me away,” he says.
NO BAD HABITS. The kids who built
Eagle’s Nest One are now learning
to fly in it, and Porter and freshman
Austin Malcomb, 16, have started
flight training. Ron Huddleston,
a former U.S. Air Force pilot and
current CFI, is donating his time
for Eagle’s Nest students through
their initial solo flights.
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2013

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