Adult volunteer mentors are needed to help high school students in Farmington, New Hampshire, build airplanes in a new program taking off in September 2025.
An open house to learn about the volunteer opportunity is being held April 23, 2025, at Farmington High School.
All are welcome at the open house to learn about the Take Flight program, in which a team of students will assemble a two-seat RV-12iS light sport aircraft from kits produced by Van’s Aircraft.
No special skills are required to be a volunteer mentor. Training in basic workshop skills and procedures will be offered, and anyone is encouraged to participate regardless of background.
Adults with experience in homebuilt kit aircraft, airframe and powerplant systems, aerospace engineering, metalworking, manufacturing, assembly, and related fields are encouraged to volunteer.
Starting in September, Farmington’s Flying Tigers plane-building program will run each school day for a two-hour block.
It’s expected to take students two school years to complete one aircraft. Following FAA sign-off, the finished aircraft will then be sold on the open market, with proceeds used to fund the next plane build.
Throughout the build, adult volunteer mentors will guide students through the steps and procedures needed to assemble the aircraft.
Volunteer mentors participate on a flexible basis and typically visit the workshop once or twice a week, officials noted.
“Being a volunteer mentor in the Flying Tigers’ plane-building program is a great way for people in the community to bring their knowledge and experience into the school system,” said Jeff Rapsis, executive director of the Aviation Museum of N.H.
Take Flight is a partnership between the Farmington School District, the non-profit Aviation Museum of N.H., and educational non-profit Tango Flight, which specializes in facilitating student plane-build projects.
Farmington’s Flying Tigers program is based on a successful student plane-building program the museum started with the Manchester School of Technology in 2019. Manchester students completed their first airplane in 2022 and are currently nearing completion of their second aircraft.
In September 2024, a second plane-build program was established at Lebanon High School in Lebanon, N.H.
No local school district tax money is used in the plane-build program, which is funded by grants and donations made through the Aviation Museum, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The museum is running a campaign to raise $250,000 in start-up funds needed to establish the Flying Tigers program at Farmington High School.
The program is part of the Aviation Museum’s youth education outreach program, which aims to encourage young people to pursue careers in aviation and aerospace.
“Volunteering as a plane-build mentor is a rewarding way to give back to the community, and help light the spark of aviation in people young and old,” Rapsis said.
“As a side benefit, volunteers become part of a family that can lead to new friendships and opportunities,” he concluded.
Can’t make the open house? You can find more information about the new plane-building program at AviationMuseumofNH.org under the Education tab or call Jeff Rapsis at 603-669-4820, ext. 401.
