From Kit to ka-ching!

From Kit to Ka-Ching!

Kettle Moraine Youth Aviation sells club’s first student-built plane

October 28, 2022 Publication: Washington County Daily News (WI) Word Count: 436

By Grayson Sewell gsewell@conleynet.com 262-306-5043HARTFORD —

The Kettle Moraine Youth Aviation (KMYA) sold its Vans RV12 airplane, which was built by students from Hartford Union High School (HUHS) through the aviation club, to David Schwartz from Madison on Thursday.

The sale will fund the club’s next build, which will be done by students from both HUHS and Slinger High School, and should take the students a year to build as they, and the mentors, are now used to the process and parts are no longer on backorder, according to KMYA mentor Lawrence Sullivan. This first one took two years and the kit price was $100,000.

For two of the students who helped build the plane, Richard Glidden and Addison Gehin, it was tough to see the plane be sold, but they are excited for the next build."It’s bittersweet. We spent so much time building it, but it’s good to see it actually be used," said Gehin."Yeah, it is bittersweet. It’s sad to see it go," said Glidden. "But, it is necessary to fund the club and keep it going, so it’s nice to see that we have funds and the ability to continue this." Both students added that they had the opportunity to fly the plane as a part of the club, and that it handled very well.

Schwartz agreed with their assessment. "It handles great, it handles like a RV," said Schwartz. According to Schwartz, he was looking to downsize from his current plane and did some research on the RV12." I had been flying for the last 10 years a Vans RV10, which is a four-place, highspeed product from the same company," said Schwartz. "I had decided to downsize, and I knew that I wanted this plane. I checked it out from different sources, and then just word of mouth, asking around at EAA and getting on a website called Vans Air Force."

He got in touch with KMYA mentors Rick Hildebrand and Sullivan, and agreed to purchase the plane. He added that knowing it would go to help fund the club’s next build was "all gravy.""My wife was a teacher, has been for years, and so, she’ll be really excited to see the pictures and that we’re doing something with kids," said Schwartz."

Photo:

Kettle Moraine Youth Aviation member, Grayson Sewell/Daily News Staff

From left, students Richard Glidden, Quinn Lobert, Zach Lobert and Addison Gehin, with David Schwartz, new owner of the RV12, and KMYA mentors Lawrence Sullivan, Howard Kaney, Mark Murphy and Rick Hildebrand with the plane that was sold to Schwartz.

Washington County Daily News (WI) Date: October 28, 2022