Habitat for Aviation: Learning by doing

By KEVIN BROOKER

Habitat is a word usually reserved for ecological spaces, but one part of the definition is a place where a person or group can thrive.

Beth White of Milton, Vermont, created a habitat using aviation to nurture an environment where young women do more than thrive. What Beth has brought to life with Habitat for Aviation’s Women Build Planes program is amazing. Her program does more than build airplanes — it introduces women and girls to commitment, connections, and community.

What she built is not the most amazing thing. How she built it is.

James Clear popularized the phrase “Success doesn’t happen overnight,” and Habitat for Aviation is a testament to this axiom. The genesis of the program can be traced back to Beth’s childhood.

Beth grew up in a household, known throughout the town, as the family who can fix anything. Her father began sweeping floors at the Blodgett Oven Company in Burlington, Vermont, and slowly worked his way up to become a tool and die maker. He was always working with his hands, and creating or repairing household items was normal for Beth.

Beth earned her bachelors degree in Human Ecology, the study of how humans interact with their environments, from the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. This is where she was introduced to formalized experiential education, which is learning by doing.

After working at the high school she graduated from in Hinesburg, Vermont, she returned to school at Antioch University New England, where she earned a Masters degree. A decade later she earned her PhD from the University of Vermont in educational leadership and policy.

Without realizing it, the foundation was set for the birth of Habitat for Aviation. She just had not yet discovered airplanes — that was until she picked up a memoir by Beryl Markham.

Discovering Airplanes

“Beryl Markham was the first female aviator to fly nonstop solo across the Atlantic in 1936, which took over 20 hours — this was before air traffic control and GPS — only to have her gas lines freeze up. She made a successful emergency landing in Nova Scotia to then take her plane apart, bring it back to England, and put it back together again. I was like, if Beryl Markham can do this in the 1930s, why can’t I fly?”

“I took an introductory flight and it was amazing,” she continued. “After this flight, I decided I wanted to become a pilot. I said to my friend, I am going to call an airplane into my reality — and she didn’t laugh, she simply asked what color is it going to be and I said green and white.”

About six months later, her mom received a call from Beth’s middle school teacher’s wife, who explained that before he passed away he had seen on Facebook that Beth was learning to fly.

“She wondered if I’d be interested in his airplane and hangar. So in exchange for helping Jane put a new roof on her barn, I inherited a little green and white Cessna 150, which I named Charlie in honor of my former teacher, and a hangar at Franklin County Airport (KFSO). And my life changed.”

Beth learned to fly in Charlie, earning her private pilot certificate. Stepping into maintenance was another piece of serendipity.

“After the landing light failed one day, I met George Coy, A&P/IA, who said, you know you can work on your own airplane, right? He invited me to pull Charlie into his hangar and from that moment I was hooked. I started going up to Franklin County Airport nearly every free moment I could to get my hands dirty alongside my new mentor.”

One day she looked around the airport and realized she was the only woman there — and that there were no young people.

“That is when I decided to start a Youth Aviator program through EAA Chapter 613. I began by taking youth flying through the Young Eagles program for the chapter and then I applied for a national Ray Aviation Scholarship. We recruited our first Youth Aviator, a young woman named Kyra, and the program slowly took off. Today we have over 25 youth in the pipeline with a desire to earn their private pilot certificate, many of whom we would notice hanging out in the hangar showing interest in working on the airplanes as well as wanting to fly them.”

Delayed by a Diagnosis

Two weeks before taking her instrument check ride, Beth was pulling internet wires in her basement crawl space and the next day she noticed a pain in her left armpit. She discovered she had breast cancer.

“Instead of a check ride, I ended up on a very different journey of eight rounds of chemo, a double mastectomy, 25 radiation treatments, and an oopherectomy (removal of the ovaries).”

“As soon as this 10-month battle was won, George, who was holding down the fort with nearly half a dozen youth apprenticing alongside him in the hangar, looked at me and said, ‘Beth, I’m turning 80 in November, how are we going to keep this going?’ That is when I decided to launch Habitat for Aviation.”

Women Build Planes

A year after forming the non-profit, Beth launched the Women Build Planes program and received the donation of a Rans S-21 Outbound kit.

“We started out being mentored by two of only 10 women certified as A&P mechanics in the state of Vermont building this airplane every Sunday from 11-5. George and his son, Cliff Coy, who runs the FBO and who is also an A&P/IA at Border Air, are now the primary mentors,” she said. “They work with our team and oversee our work for every step of the build and endorse the logged hours towards their A&P, which each participant tracks in their logbook.”

Hearing about the program was interesting, but I really wanted to witness it firsthand. Beth invited me up to spend the afternoon watching and getting to know the team.

Always looking for an excuse to fly, the Taylorcraft was my vehicle of choice. An hour after departing Post Mills I was tying down the ship at Franklin County.

Two women approached the airplane.

“Hi. I’m Beth and this is Miranda. Welcome to Habitat for Aviation.”

We had a fast tour through their old warehouse building, which they use to store parts for the Rans kit as well as several airplanes that were donated for eventual build/restoration. Beth stepped back as Miranda answered questions and explained her interest in the program.

“I came to a STEM camp at the airport and at the end of the week, we got a flyer inviting us to sign up for a Young Eagles flight. That’s when I fell in love with flying. I started coming to the airport all the time. When COVID hit, Beth arranged for me to do all my schooling with her and George at the hangar. That’s when I started logging hours towards my A&P and my pilot’s license. Building things and solving problems with airplanes is cool.”

We entered the workshop hangar where 18 women and girls were setting up work stations. Each wing was set on a work table. The flaps and ailerons each had a work table. The pink tool crib was emptied with drills, rivet pullers, and small buckets of clecos stationed by sections of the assembly manual. It looked more like a factory than an afternoon build.

Before the official start of the day, Beth filled in a bit more about the Woman Build Planes program.

“It started small and to date over 70 women and girls have participated. Some stay for a few sessions and others, like Emma, have gone on and found jobs in aviation maintenance. The ages run from nine-year-old Sammie to women in their mid 30s to our granny builder, Disa.”

We were standing off to the side and without Beth’s direction the build crew started gathering around the central table. After a few introductions and welcoming newcomers, Beth described what scholarships were available that month and reminded the builders that during lunch there would be a video conference with one of three A&P examiners in the U.S. who are women.

She then handed off the meeting to several of the builders with more experience to outline the day’s work. Miranda began.

“I’ll be working on the flaps. We need to locate a few rivet holes, replace a few that aren’t correct, and prepare the frames,” Miranda said with confidence.

As I’m taking notes there was a tap on my arm and Genevieve, Miranda’s mother, pulled me aside.

“This program has been amazing and very positive for Miranda. When she told me she was interested in hanging out at the airport with Beth I thought it was nice. She was always quiet and a little passive. Since she began working on the airplane her well-being and self confidence has improved. This program has empowered her and now she wants to be an airplane mechanic. Now she gives presentations and has earned a Ray Scholarship and is becoming a pilot. This program has been wonderful for her and many other girls.”

This fall, Miranda will be heading to Worcester Polytechnic Institute on a full-ride scholarship through the Air Force ROTC program.

Looking up, the room was full of movement and noise. Drills were boring holes. The snap of the pull rivet mandrel separating bounced off the walls as the airplane got a few steps closer to flight.

The Student Becomes The Mentor

Sammie carried a drill to one of the flap stations. Aubrianna, 17, instructed her how to mark and drill a rivet hole. She demonstrated the skill and mentored Sammie through the process. After drilling and deburring, Sammie was shown how to pull a rivet before doing it herself. Aubrianna inspected the work.

“All right. You did it. Let’s do a few more.” Sammie grinned. This scenario was repeated at all of the work stations.

When Sammie headed off to grab a few more rivets, Aubrianna recounted how this program has changed her desired career path.

“I came here with zero experience. I couldn’t even run a drill. At first my idea was to join the Air Force as a combat medic. Now I want to work on airframes. Two years ago I barely knew what a drill was. Now I’m drilling holes and teaching the other girls how to drill them. What’s cool is I’m able to write up my work here and present it at school and receive high school credit with this as an elective.”

Vermont has a work-based educational program, Act 77 or Flexible Pathways, which allows students to earn school credit for real-world learning experiences. Women Build Planes is such a program.

Emma, 17, already had a taste of aviation prior to attending the build sessions. Her father was a pilot with the Vermont Air National Guard’s Green Mountain Boys. She met Beth two years ago and soon began an internship with George working towards her A&P license.

In addition to working on airframes and engines, Emma also had an internship with Green Mountain Avionics in Middlebury, Vermont. The credit she earned allowed her to graduate from school a semester early to begin a full-time job with the avionics shop. In addition to earning her A&P, Emma is interested in earning her private pilot certificate and is fascinated by airplane racing and aerobatics.

“I’m really excited to have found a career path, which started right here. My next contribution to the build is building the panel once we figure out what’s going into it.”

At lunchtime the girls put down the tools and head to EAA Chapter 613’s Taylor Aviation Center. Some of the girls walk to the back of the shop where the refrigerator is located.

Beth opens the door. “Did you bring anything for lunch?”

“No I didn’t.”

“Help yourself.”

“You supply food too?”

“This is here in case someone forgets to bring lunch or ends up staying longer than they planned. You can’t concentrate when you’re hungry so I keep the fridge well stocked to help keep energy levels up.”

During lunch, there was a video conference with Sheryl Oxley, Aviation Programs Coordinator at Tulsa Tech, and one of only three female Designated Mechanic Examiners in the United States.

Sheryl told the girls she began her career as a mechanic after joining the military. She took the time to answer all of the girls questions about what it’s like to work as an aviation mechanic.

After lunch, the girls headed back to the workshop and I got a chance to talk to Disa, affectionately referred to as Granny.

“I am the hangar granny and builder. I started at Habitat for Aviation with my 9-year-old granddaughter. I heard that there was a group of girls building an airplane at the Franklin County Airport and thought it would be something that me and my granddaughter could do together. Watching these young girls work together was incredibly impressive. They were not just building an airplane. It became obvious that they respected, encouraged, supported, communicated, inspired, and cared very much for each other. I am proud of each and every one of the girls. They inspire and encourage me. Habitat for Aviation is not just building an airplane, we are a family.”

When not working on the build, Granny (she insisted I call her this) helps the builders find scholarship money. She also helps the girls put together applications for admission to trade schools and colleges.

In addition to drilling holes, pulling rivets, balancing flight controls, and reading plans, the women and girls give presentations about the build.

“The builders just finished giving a presentation to the Franklin County chapter of 100 Women who Care,” said Beth with pride. “They spoke about how building an airplane gives them confidence, jobs, education, and how they plan on using the Rans to introduce others to aviation. They made the presentation by themselves while I sat in the audience. The 100 women voted and decided to fund $10,000 towards our avionics.”

Looking at my watch it was time to go. I flew the family Taylorcraft from Post Mills, about an hour’s flight from Franklin County. The builders put down tools and joined me in the cold to admire my ride.

For many, this was the first look at a rag and tube airplane with no electrical system. We gave the ship a pre-flight walk around. The cork and wire fuel gauge caught their attention and they seemed to enjoy the simplicity of the old airplane.

Latching the cowl after checking the oil a question came from behind me, “Without an electrical system, how do you start the engine?”

We used this question as a lead in to the art and safety procedures of hand propping. We ended the discussion with a live demonstration. The old mill didn’t hesitate and started on the first blade.

As I turned around at the departure end of the runway, the builders were assembled outside of the hangar watching. There was no intention of showing off. Botching the departure would have been a very bad ending to a wonderful day.

For more information: HabitatForAviation.org