Reach for the sky at Burnside High

From left, pilot Jamie Veivers (in red cap), aviation experts John Butler and Victor Craig, principal Kerri Dunn and teacher Adrian Casten with students and a wing from a duplicate plane the students use as a model.

For many people, high school represents a time where much of the information learned seems to have very little relevance to the real world. But at Burnside High, a vision to make the school a centre of excellence for Aviation is changing that.

The school is one of only 4 schools in Australia participating in the Sports Aircraft Association of Australia’s Youth Aircraft Build and Fly Program.

The year 11 ISK (Aviation) class will be building the kit plane, which arrived earlier this month. This is the first time this program has been undertaken by SAAA.

What is perhaps even more impressive is that the Year 12 ISK (Aviation) class is also currently building a Zenith 701 completely from scratch, which means they are actually making the components on site in the school workshop using specialized software to create patterns for each component and lasers to cut them out.

“As far as I am aware, we are the only school in the world doing a from scratch build,” said Technology teacher and former Engineer, Adrian Casten.

“There is a plan for the kids to follow, and they are using pieces of an old crashed plane as a reference throughout the build, as it helps the students to visualise the components and how they fit together. All of the information is being put into a CAD program and the students are working from that. We are also fortunate to have garnered support from Sebastien Heintz, the owner of Zenith aircrafts based in the US who has supported us with technical support and plans,”

Burnside Principal Kerri Dunn says it has been inspiring to watch the students engage with the program. “The students have shown such incredible determination, discipline and motivation,” she said. “This program is not only about academic and manual skills, but also making connections within the aviation community and thinking outside the box in terms of future careers in aviation. We are so proud of the work they are doing and the spirit in which they are doing it. We have also introduced Drone courses which are approved by CASA so that students can fly drones legally. This is another option for young people to investigate as a career,” she said.

The leading edge technology program has attracted support and mentors from unexpected quarters. Jamie Veivers is a qualified pilot and member of the Sunshine Coast Aero Club, and he has become involved with the students during the build. “I believe that this experience will encourage some of them to go on and seek out a career in flying,” he said.

John Butler and Victor Craig are members of the Sports Aircraft Association who have become involved with the projects, and both are currently building planes of their own.

“I am gobsmacked by what these students are doing,” said Mr Butler. “They have demonstrated such confidence and they have only got a finite amount of time to get the project done, but they show up every lesson with enthusiasm and determination. It is just fantastic.”