EN-3 Inaugural Flight Video - 5/26/2013

It was a big day for the PLTW Aerospace Engineering students at League City's Clear Springs High School - It was the day the Eagle's Nest RV-12 they spent the past 7-1/2 months building was going to fly!

In attendance were 30+ student-builders, aerospace engineering instructor, Mr. Roger Elder, assistant school principal, Mr. Troy Scott, City Council representative, Mrs. Heidi Thiess, ABC Channel-13, and numerous other news reporters. Nighthawk banner towing circled the field during the event with a message congratulating the student-builders for their outstanding accomplishment and Bruce Bohannon & Rick Carr made several precision formation passes with smoke-on to set the stage.

Project mentor and airline Captain, Mr. David Grover, performed the honors of the inaugural flight with student-builder, Sam Pritchett, in the right seat performing his duties as student-pilot. Rain was on the horizon, but before it arrived Mr. Grover had time to take five of the student-builders to the skies in the airplane they crafted with their own hands. It was far more than a good day - it was a spectacular day! more...

EN-3 First Flight - 5/26/2013

EN3 was signed off on Friday and took her maiden flight today, May 26, 2013. 

More EN-1 Solo Flights

Congratulations to Ross Porter of the EN-1 Team. Ross had his Solo flight on Feb 17th, 2013 in EN-1!
Also, please help us congratulation Eli Morris who soled in EN1 earlier today (5/26/2013)
That's Three for EN-1!!!

Eagle's Nest - Roger Elder receives "Teacher Innovative Grant"

Eagle's Nest (EN-3) project leader and Clear Springs High School PLTW aerospace engineering instructor, Mr. Roger Elder, receives $5,000 "Teacher Innovative Grant" from Clear Creek Education Foundation to support next year's Eagle's Nest program at Clear Springs. more...

EN4 Team co-hosts Doolittle Raider event honoring Lt. Colonel Ed Saylor

Last night the EN4 Team co-hosted an event honoring Lt. Colonel Ed Saylor. Mr. Saylor arrived at the school auditorium around 5:30pm where he met with the kids and members of the audience to sign autographs. Our focus was to honor Mr. Saylor, but we did sneak in a few words about Eagle's Nest and the school's aviation magnet program. Candace Lynn, the Aviation program instructor at ERHS lead off with brief discussion about the school aviation program and Eagle's Nest. Terry Faherty (Former Mayer of the City of Edgewood, WA, Vietnam Veteran and Bird Dog Pilot) gave a heartfelt introduction. Mr. Saylor took the stage for about an hour, followed by a half hour question and answer period. We learned we had a surprise guest in the audience as well. more...

Eagle's Nest -3 on display at JSC's Space Center Houston main entrance!

As part of Clear Creek ISD's 2013 gala breakfast being held at Space Center Houston and honoring selected school volunteers and community partnerships, Eagle's Nest -3 was invited to participate and the school district arranged for Eagle's Nest -3 to be displayed at the main entrance. Clear Springs HS is scheduled to begin their second Eagle's Nest Project in the Fall, and future display dates at Space Center Houston are already in the making.
Aside - Eagle's Nest -3 is also known as the "Elder One" and was affectionately named by the build-students after their instructor and project leader, Mr. Roger Elder. Mr. Elder, aside from being a submariner and a really great guy, is also a certified PLTW aerospace engineering instructor. __

View from the Perch

Get the latest information about Eagle's Nest from our founder, Mr. Bob Kelly. Read Bob's "View from the Perch" to learn about about a couple new projects, student flight updates and more.

Eagle's Nest featured in the May AOPA Pilot magazine

Bob Kelly and the students of Eagle's Nest One were recently the feature of 6 page article in AOPA's May issue of AOPA Pilot. Read the article here.

Jet Blue Transports EN6 to Sun-N-Fun

Jet Blue's Charter aircraft arrived at the 39th Annual Sun-N-Fun International Fly-in and Expo. On board were special guests from High Schools and colleges in New York and Central Florida with strong ties to STEM. In total there were nine aviation focused schools represented on the charter.

Vans Factory Tour

EN4 students, mentors and a couple family members toured the factory on April 5th. Dick VanGrunsven (aka "Van") met with the group for about 30 minutes to learn more about EN4 and also shared some wisdom and experience with the mentors (Van is a mentor with Teen Flight). Daryl was the master of ceremonies for our tour and even though the punches weren't operating at the time we still had a great time and spent well over an hour learning more about the manufacturing process. Things have sure changed since the RV-3 days...

Alaska Airlines Opens it's Doors to EN4

Alaska Airlines hosted the EN4 students, mentors and family members for a tour of their maintenance facility. Scott Burdeaux and Teresa Muckerheide of Alaska Airlines helped us navigate our way through two VERY large hangars and even allowed us to crawl in and around a 737-400. We spent over 3 hours on the tour, thanks in part to our own Harold "Smitty" Smith (one of our mentors) who retired from Alaska 12 years ago after 33 years of service with them. We even got to see some of Smitty handy work along the way (a custom APU test cart that is still in use today). Take a look at our photo album.

EN4 Students to Meet Mr. Ed Saylor (Doolittle Raider)

This May (21st) The students and mentors of EN4, EAA Chapter 326 and Emerald Ridge High School will be hosting Mr. Saylor so that he may share his first hand account of the Tokyo raids. Ed is one of four surviving Doolittle Raiders and he has graciously accepted our invitation to retell his story. We are so proud to host Mr. Saylor so that others may hear is remarkable story.

Eagle's Nest Welcomes Circle Christian School (EN6)

Eagle's Nest is proud to welcome Circle Christian School to the family! "Circle" will be starting their RV-12 build next fall (2013).  The Circle team brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to Eagle's Nest.  Welcome Aboard! Visit the EN6 Project Page for more information

Students and Mentors from EN4 Meet with Jeff Skiles and Trevor Janz of EAA

EAA's Grassroots Tour Stopped to visit EAA Chapter 326 (Puyallup, WA|KPLU) on February 18th. Prior to the Grassroots Event the students and mentors of EN4 met privately with Mr. Skiles and Mr. Janz to discuss Eagle's Nest and look over EN4.

EN4 on display at the Washington Aviation Conference & Trade Show

EN4 Students and Mentors took show on the road this weekend! We were the special guest of EAA Chapter 326 who graciously shared their booth at the show with us. This event allowed us to meet with a possible sponsor and more importantly, allowed us to share our story with other aviators in the area. The support for this program is amazing and we enjoyed having a chance to show off a little.

Students and Mentors from EN4 Meet with Jeff Skiles and Trevor Janz of EAA

EAA's Grassroots Tour Stopped to visit EAA Chapter 326 (Puyallup, WA|KPLU) on February 18th. Prior to the Grassroots Event the Students and Mentors of Eagle's Nest Project #4 met privately with Mr. Skiles and Mr. Janz to discuss Eagle's Nest and look over EN4.

View From the Perch

Read Bob Kelly's latest View From the Perch newsletter here. Bob introduces ENP's chaplain and discusses recent ENP Developments.

AOPA Introduces Youth Membership

AOPA's new youth membership. Free to teens age 13 to 18, AV8RS includes the monthly digital edition of Flight Training magazine, access to members-only content on aopa.org specially directed at this age group, special AV8RS online social communities, and chances to win flight training scholarships. For more information visit AOPA's AV8RS site: http://www.aopa.org/AV8RS/

EN1 - First Solo!

EN1 Student Austin Malcolmb celebrates his first solo on his 16th birthday!

View from the Perch, December, 2012

Highlights:

• OVO holds Media Day
• Patriot Academy holds final graduation
• EN-2 moves to OVO, is sold
• EN-3 progressing rapidly
• EN-5 build in progress
• EN-6 planted
• ENP on EAA 2012 DVD

More...

Blue Angles Demonstration Team member, Captain A.J. Harrell, visits Clear Springs High School - 10/29/12

The Blue Angles are in Houston this weekend for the "Wings over Houston" airshow and addressed the student body at Springs with a slideshow, film, and a powerful message; "Find your passion, work hard, don't let anyone tell you that you can't succeed, and follow your dream". Following the student body presentation, Capt. Harrell and other team members visited Mr. Elder's PLTW Aerospace Engineering class to visit with his students and see their Eagle's Nest Project first-hand. Mr. Elder's 2nd and 7th period classes are building a full-size 2-place airplane (Van's Aircraft RV-12) under a program sponsored and mentored by Eagle's Nest Projects.

North Vernon Municipal Airport Receive Airport of the Year Award - 10/14/12

Eagle's Nest Projects added another feather to its cap October 11, 2012. North Vernon Municipal Airport (OVO) was selected as Indiana Airport of the Year by the Indiana Aviation Association. As part of their award, the Board of Directors of OVO selected Eagle's Nest Projects as recipient of a cash award from IAA. The $1000 award had to go to a non-profit of the airport's choosing. ...more

Read All About It! - 10/14/12

Bob Kelly has lots of news to report.  Please read his View From the Perch to find out all the latest news related to ENP.

Former astronaut Robert L. “Hoot” Gibson Visits EN-1 and EN-2\

Hoot took time to meet with the kids of EN-1 and EN-2, pounding a few rivits on EN-2 and even flew EN-1 around the patch. Read the full story from Eagle's Nest Founder and Chief Mentor, Bob Kelly.

Oshkosh Highlights

Eagle's Nest and Teen Flight announced a merger, EN-1 flew 2nd ship in the Vans "Parade" and more... read all about it in Bob's "View From The Perch".

See EN-1 at Airventure 2012

EN-1 will be on display on Monday, July 23rd from 10 am to 11:15 am at the Homebuilders Hangar (map).  

Eagle's Nest and Teen Flight at Airventure 2012

Join Eagles Nest and Teen Flight at 8:30am on Tuesday, July 24th in building 7 (Honda building).  Forum covers the benefits of building an RV-12 in a school setting, both to the students and to the mentors. It discusses some of the unique problems the classroom provides and how to overcome them. Along with what some teens have learned about flying in the process.