Project Pegasus- Capstone project
For the past three years senior students part of the STEM Marin Program have been given the opportunity to be part of building a fully functional Van’s Aircraft RV12 airplane. I gratefully accepted this opportunity and have joined 19 classmates in working on building the wings. Together with five other students I am in charge of building the left wing as well as completing the electrical wiring within the wing and attaching the light.
This project is split up so that every year a group of STEM seniors is responsible for building a certain new part of the plane. The past two years have built the tail cone and fuselage. This year we are building the wings and the next few years will have jobs such as completing all electrical wiring, attaching the motor, and painting the plane. Below you can find the link to the Project Pegasus website. This project is expected to take two to three more years. Keep up with the progress by clicking the link below.
This project is split up so that every year a group of STEM seniors is responsible for building a certain new part of the plane. The past two years have built the tail cone and fuselage. This year we are building the wings and the next few years will have jobs such as completing all electrical wiring, attaching the motor, and painting the plane. Below you can find the link to the Project Pegasus website. This project is expected to take two to three more years. Keep up with the progress by clicking the link below.
This year we have six students building the left wing, six students building the right wing, four students building the left flaperon, and four students building the right flaperon. Below you can find progress updates on the left wing, major milestone moments of the entire plane, and progress pictures from this year.
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More pictures can be found by clicking the link on the right.
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Thankfully us students are not fully on our own while building this RV12 but instead have a large group of mentors from all different backgrounds, who all have some connection to operating and building airplanes, who answer any questions we have regarding any part of construction or other aspect of the plane. When these mentors don’t know the answer to one of our questions we are also able to call Van’s Aircraft and they are able to answer our question.
Being part of this amazing and unique project I am learning many skills I would not learn through any other projects. I am learning extensive team working, communication, responsibility, and leadership skills as well as how to read engineering drawings. As I am part of a small group of six I learn how to work well in small groups and being part of a team of 20 students in total teaches me how to work in groups a little bigger. A big part, if not the main skill, I learn through this team work is communication. I learn how to voice any concerns that I have regarding anything related and unrelated to the construction of the plane. To work efficiently our group has to have good and clear communication which we quickly when we started construction. I am also in charge of updating the overall website for our entire Project Pegasus which teaches me how to establish communication between different class periods. Responsibility is another key learning aspect from this project as we have to ensure that every move we make, whether it’s the hole we are match drilling or the rivet we are putting in, is the right move at the right time or all progress can be delayed. We also need to ensure that everything is done correctly so it will be approved by the FAA. Leadership skills are another skill I learn through working on Project Pegasus. From the start of the project I have taken the leadership role in our group and ensured that we are on good track to our goal which is finishing the wings by the end of this school year. I have also presented the plane to our School Board, our school, and a member of the Board of Supervisors. The main skill that we learn through this project, that sets this project apart from most others, is learning how to read engineering drawings. I learn how to read engineering drawings through reading the instructions for every step of construction and this is truly a skill most other projects, in high school, do not cover.
I have found this project to truly be life changing as it has motivated me to pursue engineering in college and I am grateful to be given such an amazing opportunity to be part of the team of Project Pegasus.