EAA

Chapter 406

Mentors

Don Williams

      Don Williams was our ace mentor during 2001 - 2002 and is has been back ever since.  He was here two years prior helping his grandson John who was enrolled in the program.  He was instrumental in solving fit and finish problems with the empennage of our 701 and last year was the lead mentor on the start of the 601. He and several teams of students brought the 601 from pencil marks on the table to the partial fuselage we have as of this writing.

    Though not a pilot, Don is interested in aviation and has been since his career in the Air Force. He was an electronic technician and spent his last tour of duty in Viet Nam taking care of communication and cryptographic facilities. Later he worked for the Navy at Keyport in torpedo programs making many trips with testing teams.

   Don really enjoys transferring skills to students. His feels that his biggest accomplishments come when students develop problem solving skills. He enjoys teaching tool use but knows that if students can face a problem, develop several possible solutions, pick the best one, and see it through, then they will be able to apply that ability to any problem they face in the future. .

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Dan Barry

      Dan Barry is a CKJH mentor for the CH-701 airplane manufacturing class has about 6,000 flying hours. Dan has flown many military fighters because he was in the military during WWII. Many of the planes he has flown include P-4, F-86, F-102, F-105, and F-106. He owns a L-3, a WWII plane that was built in 1943.

    Mr. Barry has not actually built any airplanes, but he has restored one. He has a few reasons for mentoring the project, “I think it is a good project because the mentors and the students learn from it.” He says that it is a good project and that everyone else thinks so too.

    His first flight was out of a pasture. Dan did that when he was twelve. His very first solo was when he was eighteen years old. He thought it was very cool. His most memorable aviation experience was when he was flying combat in Vietnam. He thought that was very exciting.

Bob Brown

    Around 1978, a friend took  Bob Brown up for his first plane ride. As they flew over Kitsap County, Bob’s friend talked with him about the airplane, showed him how it worked, and even let him fly a little.
 Mr. Brown then took flying lessons from Mr. Studebaker, his neighbor. After about ten hours of instruction, Bob was able to go up in a Piper PA22-150 alone. Mr. Brown describes that first solo as “very exciting” and says that everything worked as it should.

    Currently, Bob flies his Cessna Cardinal 177 about fifty hours a year sometimes going to Port Townsend for a burger, or just going up to enjoy the view. In a small airplane, like his, there is a panoramic view instead of the small window that he would have in a commercial jet.

    Bob has been mentoring for the project since it began. He wants to show students that they can build an airplane since he didn’t learn it was possible until he was much older. At the same time, he is having fun working with the kids and learning how to build an airplane. Now he is thinking of building a turbine powered plane with Jeff Fraisure.

Clifton, Del

     Clark Coulter, Retired Postal Inspector

First flight: About 1946,

     Clark enjoys working with the students and learning how to work with metal. Since his Pulsar kit is of fiberglass construction, much of what he learns as we build the CH-701 is new to him as well. This is an excellent example of lifelong learning and a great example for the kids. Clark thinks the kids are "Outstanding".

Cox, Brett

Dexter, Mark

     Hal Downes, Materials Analyst

First Flight: San Jose, California. Demonstration ride in a brand new
Piper Cherokee 180 in early 1967. The demo pilot/instructor gave me my
first loggable flight hour and let me fly the airplane.

Impressions of the project, kids, etc: Excellent project in that the level of difficulty challenges the students yet doesn't overwhelm them. In general, the participants are well behaved and genuinely interested. Parental support needs to be encouraged.

     Bob Eskridge, Retired FAA officer

     6000+ hrs, mostly single engine land. 1500 of them multi-engined. With all of his instruction, he has flown nearly every general aviation aircraft. Bob is a Certified Flight Instructer (Instrument), a tail-dragger pilot, and a mountain flyer. He was a crew member in Navy PB4Y2 Privateers and PV2 Neptunes He doesn't have a single most amazing experience but says, "It's amazing everytime I get up in the air."He finds the project an enjoyable experience and likes to offer something back to aviation. He is amazed at the the capability of the students.

 Fick, Art

Fraisure, Jeff

Grasmick, Scott

Hand, Chris

Monise, Don

     Mike O'Neal, Electrical Engineer

     Mike's first flight was in a DC-7 courtesy of TWA in 1959. He has 260 hours in Cessna 152s, 172s, 182s, Beechcraft Bonanzas, and a Wheeler Express His most memorable aviation experience was,
     "The first flight of my Wheeler after 8 years of construction time." Mike mentors to share his love of aviation and hopefully get some kids excited about it, too. Mike's impression of the project is that it is a great bunch of kids and a great group of mentors. "It is a real pleasure to be associated with the project." Packett, Bob

Reilly, Dennis

George Steed

    Mr. Steed first flew in 1956 as a four-year-old moving from Wisconsin to Michigan in a DC-3. He threw up. His first solo was April 16, 1994 at Bremerton Airport in a Cessna 152.  Mr. Steed was a bombardier in the Navy and has over 1200 hours in T2-Cs, T-39Ds, TA-4Js, A-6Es, and KA-6Ds.

    Once, while in the Sea of Japan, he and his pilot were launched into a blinding snowstorm. When they returned to the ship, the snow was so thick that they couldn’t see the landing area and had to ‘waveoff’ four times. When they finally got aboard they had ten minutes of fuel remaining.

    Mr. Steed has built the fuselage for a Skybolt, the wing ribs for a J-3 Cub, and the tail section for an RV-6A. He is mentoring the CH-701 project so that he can finally complete an aircraft, if only as part of a team. He wants to transfer skills and see the students value and respect tools and handwork skills.

Update!  On 21 September, 2005 Mr. Steed completed the requirements for his private pilot's license.  He completed the oral portion of the test and a 1.5 hour checkride and has joined the ranks of those that fly.

 Ron Vandervort, Retired Airline Pilot.

    Mr. Vandervort first flew in 1942 in a Piper PA-12. He first soloed an airplane (a Cessna 140) in February of 1964. Since then he has flown Cessnas, Pipers, Luscombes, T-6s (a military training plane), BT-13s (another trainer), Citabrias (a small aerobatic airplane), Boeing707s, 727s, 757s, and Douglas DC-10s. He has an amazing 13,000 hours of pilot time.

    Mr. Vandervort has rebuilt two Piper PA-12s, and has built a RV-6A at his hangar on Apex Airport.
Once when coming in for a landing in a DC-10, his landing gear couldn’t fully function. He had a right main gear trunion failure with a ruptured hydraulic system and a failed visual indicator. He extended the gear manually and landed safely.
Mr. Vandervort is mentoring in order to ‘pass the baton’ or to share his enthusiasm of aviation.
He is favorably impressed with the project, but thinks that it could use more tools.

Last Updated: 01/12/06

Disclaimer: This page is the product of the Central Kitsap Junior High School Project SchoolFlight.