A grassroots effort to expose high school students to aviation has blossomed into an international effort that now has a $6 million fundraising goal. BuildAPlane started in California in 2003 with the donation of an airplane to a Burbank school’s small engine repair program. After the first year, at least five of the students, who signed up to fix lawnmowers, ended up in post-secondary aviation programs in a variety of career paths. “It’s interesting what happens when suddenly there’s an airplane in the classroom. The organization has caught on and has formal partnerships with the FAA and the Wathen Foundation. It’s also trying to raise the $6 million needed to buy textbooks and other classroom resources. But the group has also had a profound effect on a village in Nigeria.
Proof that aviation nuts are born and not products of their environment, a student from a village in Nigeria somehow found out about the program and begged for help. What’s more, the boy and his friends were determined to build their own aircraft. With some seed funding from BuildAPlane, they put together a reasonable facsimile of an airplane and now the organization is looking for someone to sponsor a scholarship for the lead hands on the project so they can study in the U.S.
