This year I had the amazing opportunity to work on the Pegasus Project in my senior STEM engineering class. We are building a Van's RV-12 light sport aircraft with the help of Marin County’s Gnoss Field Community Association. The project began during the 2016-2017 school year and will be worked on by following senior classes until it is completed. I worked on on the airplane in the 2018-2019 class and during this time we constructed and finished the right and left wings.
This has been an incredible and once in a lifetime experience. I’ve greatly enjoyed working alongside the mentors and learning about the field of aeronautics. My favorite part of the project was building the wings. My group and I worked on the left wing and constructing it was fun because once the ribs were attached, you could see immediate progress. Working on the wing required attaching the wing ribs, running wiring for the light, installing the stall warning, attaching the wing skins, and installing the actual light. This project has been a great learning opportunity. I was introduced to all sorts of new tools, building techniques, and plane materials such as different rivets, deburring, fluting, rivet guns, and clecos. I also learned the importance of precision and paying attention to detail. Building the plane comes with lots of responsibility and one mistake could have disastrous consequences. For these reasons, you need to read the plans carefully and make sure you fully understand what to do before you begin the next step. At times, this was challenging because the plans are complex and confusing. It can be difficult to determine the orientation of a diagram, which direction to rivet, or what exactly needs to be riveted. Because of this, I learned how to be patient and pay attention to detail.
Communication and collaboration are key skills that I used many times throughout the year. When working in a team, you need to clearly communicate your ideas and who is working on what section. Not one person could really do a job alone, so it was vital they we were all able to efficiently work together. In our group, we had people riveting the wing skins, people collecting the ends of the rivets, and others attaching and detaching clecos. Building the plane was a collaborative effort and really taught me how to positively work in team and support others.
My group and I were responsible for moving into the auto shop and in the end were successful in doing so. We coordinated with Dr. Sims, STEM Marin, and Robotics to figure out what space we could occupy and when we could make the move. We ended up moving after Spring break once the lifts were removed and the wings completed. Before the plane could actually be moved into the space, we had to clean the shelves, floors, and countertops. Then the plane was moved in about two days. This turned out to be a challenge and an obstacle. The plane was moved quickly and with little communication, so the space became disorganized and people were unsure of what needed to be done next. This caused about a one to two week lag in which we had to organize the work area and figure out what sections needed to be done next. This issue could have been fixed with better communication and an actual layout for the room before moving everything to the auto shop. I would also recommend creating long term goals for the project each year so that once one thing is finished people know what to start working on next.
One part of the project that I loved was getting to know the mentors. I enjoyed talking to them about their lives and telling them about my plans for the future. They were all knowledgeable and eager to provide help when I had a question, making the whole experience supportive and positive. Overall, I am very grateful for the opportunity to work on project pegasus. It is incredible to know that I have been working an actual airplane. I have learned many important skills and have grown so much as a person. I am now fascinated in airplanes and hope to continue this interested in after the project, possibly with flight lessons. I will miss working on the plane each morning, but I am excited to track its progress in the future and see the final product.