Don Dixon gives the front of the Murphy Elite under construction a shake on Friday.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
It has been more than a decade since the Sports Aviation Foundation started a project to build a working aircraft with the help of area students.
Organizer Don Dixon estimated that as many as 200 young people have worked on the Murphy Elite over the past 10 years.
“The idea was to get kids down here and get their hands on something related to aviation,” Dixon said on Friday. “We’re getting to the point where we just need a handful of kids to finish it.”
The airplane still requires installation of the engine, wiring and controls. Builders are wrapping up sealing the wing tanks that will carry 20 gallons on each side.
The 160 horsepower engine from a donated Piper Cherokee sits in the corner waiting to be connected to the plane.
Dixon said the engine came from an abandoned aircraft at the Carson Airport.
“They said we could have the engine, but we had to haul the whole plane away, too,” he said. “We sold off some of the parts of the plane.”
The engine had 800 hours on it, but Dixon estimates it could last 2,000 hours.
“It needs some work, and some love, but it will be a good engine for this plane,” he said. “This is going to be a slow flying bush type plane.”
Putting an aircraft together is a little like sewing a garment.
“You pin the pieces together and then rivet them in place once they’re where you like them to be,” he said of the plane. “You actually put the plane together several times before you rivet it.”
Dixon and Cliff Hunter have been working with children for around three hours on Saturdays since 2014.
“Cliff has been down here with us over the entire time,” Dixon said. “He’s awesome, he’s really ramrodded putting it together while I’ve been herding the kids.”
Dixon said he’s heard a few comments regarding the safety of flying a student-built plane over the years.
“All the guys who build out here have come over and looked at it and said, ‘You guys workmanship is top notch.’” Dixon said. “We follow safety guidelines and never build unless there are at least two adults here. That’s always what we’ve done. Some of the parents are here, too. I have one dad visiting who wants to learn how to build a plane.”
To participate, contact Dixon at dondwd007@gmail.com or 775-721-0173.