Students at Flour Bluff High School celebrated a major milestone as they unveiled the first aircraft built through their aviation program, a project that took nearly two years to complete.
The ambitious undertaking began with nothing more than a box of 10,000 rivets and countless individual parts. For students involved in the program, seeing the finished plane represented a full-circle moment in their educational journey.
"It's awesome. I'm so stoked for this opportunity," one student said during the unveiling ceremony.
Another student reflected on the long-term nature of the project, saying it feels good to know that work started years ago is almost ready to take to the skies.
Bradley Smith, a Flour Bluff student involved in the program, said while building the plane was exciting, the knowledge gained may prove even more valuable for his future career.
"This class is half building the plane, half all about aviation, and learning about the stuff that I'm going to need to know for my career," Smith said. "And getting that head start, learning about all the weather involved, ATC communication, airspace, all that stuff. It's been awesome to get a head start learning about all that."
Aviation instructor Caleb Harris explained the unique challenge of building one aircraft with multiple classes rotating through the program.
"When one class is over and the next class comes in its just one plane so they have to pick up where the other students left off," Harris said.
Harris said the completed plane can reach altitudes up to 18,000 feet and speeds up to 125 miles per hour.
Plans are already underway to get students and faculty airborne, but Daniel Weyant, executive director of Tango Flight, said several final steps remain before takeoff.
"The plane still needs a final inspection so we'll work with the school and schedule the FAA inspector or DAR to come out here in the next week or two," Weyant said. "He'll do the inspection he'll issue the paperwork that makes it legally an airplane and makes it legally allowed to fly."
This won't be the last aircraft Flour Bluff plans to build, as the next plane is already in production.
The school also unveiled plans to expand its career-focused programs, including a new drone program and a maritime program, all designed to help students take their futures to new heights.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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