STEM students work inside and outside the box

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When other folks were sleeping in on a Sunday morning, more than a dozen area students were hard at work in the aircraft hangars of Jefferson County International Airport, putting the gifts they’d received to use.

Representatives of Olympic Peninsula Steam, the Port Townsend Noon Rotary Club and the Boeing Bluebills stopped by Oct. 1 to celebrate their donation of $2,500 to the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students. The funds went toward the purchase of a fully stocked, waist-high tool chest on wheels.

Michael Payne, director of the Port Townsend Aero Museum, explained that, since 2001, 375 students have received hands-on training in assembling, refurbishing and even flying small aircraft, under the supervision of licensed master mechanics.

Of the current roster of 15 students, whose ages range from 12 to 18, all but one have flown aircraft, and four have made solo flights.

“When this program started, we were working out of a small box hangar,” Payne said. “A little over half of our work is contracts with other plane owners, which the kids contribute to getting done, and learn valuable skills in the process. Other jobs are for the museum, either maintaining or adding to our collection through restoration.”

TRAINING ON TAILDRAGGERS

Payne praised the students for training to fly on taildraggers, which he deemed among the toughest of aircraft to taxi, get airborne and land, due to the center of gravity created by the placement of the aircraft’s two main wheels in front. Prior to flying the taildraggers, they spend some time with tricycle-gear aircraft, which have a reversed wheel configuration.

“The most important things that they gain through this program are accountability and responsibility, which apply to anything they might do after they leave here,” Payne said. “Regardless of your job, you need to be able to show up on time and complete your tasks to be a success in life. Our day starts at 8:30 a.m. here, but if you’re not showing up at least 10 minutes early, you’re late. It’s not like the classroom, where all you’re doing is beating the bell.”

By having students fly aircraft that they’ve worked on themselves, Payne reasoned, they learn to take their work seriously, since their own lives are depending on it.

While Payne has been grateful for all the donations of tools that the program has received over the years, he explained the advantages of a complete tool chest, such as the one furnished by the grant.

“A lot of those tools came from different sets, and were given to us in fishing tackle boxes,” Payne said. “They’re still good tools, but it makes it harder to tell when some tools are missing. With this tool chest, there are holes cut out in the foam in the drawers for each specific tool, so you can open the drawers and tell at a glance which tools are missing.”

Rotarian Jo Nieuwsma also used her status as a retired satellite engineer with Boeing to secure a 50 percent matching grant for Rotary’s $1,000 donation.

“By getting this level of hands-on experience, they gain skills they’ll use their whole lives, even if they never touch a plane again,” Nieuwsma said, echoing Payne. “It’s always a good thing when you can work with component parts and think outside the box. Even with computer-aided design, you have to adapt and overcome when the machine says the design won’t work, but you can see that it will.”