An aviation-focused youth development program uses a combination of hands-on construction experience, education, pride in achievement and the thrill of flight. Mentored by aviation experts from EAA Chapter 40 San Fernando Valley, students 14-18 are constructing an actual flying aircraft. Afterward, these young men and women will learn to fly in the plane they built.

The program, which has consistently demonstrated high levels of participant engagement and retention, has garnered praise from high school students and parents. These are areas that many other youth activities struggle with. A large percentage of participants are from populations that have long been under-represented in aviation.

Based on this success, Project: JACKPOT (Joint Aircraft Construction for Kids, Parents, Opportunities and Training) is set to nearly double in size over the next year.

“The level of interest and support from the local community, parents and the aviation world has been beyond our expectations,” said the project’s founder and program lead Bill Berle. “Another very welcome surprise has been the amount of in-kind and direct financial charitable support we’ve received, coming much earlier in the timeline than we expected. The owner of a nearby airstrip, Jeff Snyder, bought the parts kit for a second aircraft. That’s a tremendous gift in itself, but then having our landlord – Western Hangars LLC – make an entire second building available is what will allow us to actually start another airplane this year – doubling the size of the program with a new group of high school students.”

Grant funding has been received from the Mark Hughes Foundation and further support has come from other private and corporate funding. Prior to the start of the actual construction, individual pilots have been responding in high numbers to an offer to put their name, or the name of their childhood aviation inspiration, on the aircraft for a small donation. The name of the aircraft itself, The Spirit of Los Angeles, reflects the entire community’s support.

EAA Chapter 40’s President Clyde Carpenter, who is overseeing the 50-year-old organization’s growth into a mature non-profit, sees a much larger benefit to JACKPOT.

“With 30 years of youth-work experience, I strongly support hands-on teaching of lifelong skills, empowering a new generation,” he said. “This experience provides a vibrant pathway to becoming tomorrow’s engineers, aerospace leaders, and pilots. It reminds me of how in the 1960s NASA sponsored hundreds of university projects inspiring students to pursue higher education, realizing a future and embracing dreams that become reality.”

Carpenter noted that innovative technology was created that is used presently in everyday items such as smartphones, GPS, safety grooves on freeways, Velcro and memory foam.

“I personally love how NASA’s inspiration brought lifesaving advances in cardio-pulmonary sciences, benefiting my friends and family,” he added. “I can only imagine and dream of what our youth will be inspired to achieve because we are able to give them this opportunity … just like NASA did in the ’60s.”