{"id":15650,"date":"2026-09-23T10:19:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T17:19:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/?p=15650"},"modified":"2026-09-23T10:20:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T17:20:53","slug":"second-harvey-mudd-student-built-airplane-takes-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/2026\/09\/23\/second-harvey-mudd-student-built-airplane-takes-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Second Harvey Mudd Student-built Airplane Takes Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A second airplane built by Harvey Mudd students received its official airworthiness certificate this past summer and took to the skies, marking the culmination of a nine-year aeronautical experiential learning project led by engineering professor David Harris in which students from multiple class years built aircraft in the College\u2019s basement engineering rooms and makerspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first airplane, a Vans RV-7A, was constructed from 2017-2020. Over those three years, more than 50 Mudders, 13 high school students and several mentors assembled the plane. From riveting sheet metal to testing the engine once installed, students spent a collective 6,100 hours to complete the Vans RV-7A. Harris purchased the plane and later flew it on a cross-country tour.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Harvey Mudd student-built airplane takes flight\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/c07_ENFA8-4?wmode=transparent&amp;rel=0&amp;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inspired by the students\u2019 enthusiasm and the hands-on skills they gained, Harris decided to continue with a second plane and created E15: Introduction to Aviation. He selected a smaller airplane, a Vans RV-12iS Experimental Light Sport Aircraft, which was more suited to a classroom setting.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We&#8217;ve had students who want to be pilots or want to be aeronautical engineers, and the plane has been a dream for them to get to work on it. That&#8217;s really exciting, to harness all that passion and give so people an opportunity to contribute.&#8221; Harris said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Naomi Horiguchi \u201926 got involved with the plane her first year at Mudd, shadowing a friend who was proctoring the class first semester and then taking E15 second semester. She worked on the plane further while doing summer research on campus and became a class proctor her junior year. She was excited to learn new tools and skills and connect the plane construction back to the engineering she was learning in class.&nbsp; She also gained an appreciation for good building practice and the importance of making accurate drawings and communicating instructions well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/naomi-plane.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15655\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/naomi-plane.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/naomi-plane-300x176.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Naomi Horiguchi \u201926 at work on the Vans RV-12iS airplane.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She also learned a lot about leadership from her experience as a plane proctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBeing put in charge of a situation where safety was really important for both the people working on the project and also the person who would eventually fly the plane, that was a big responsibility. I think I learned a lot about how to manage people in those situations, and how to take steps carefully, while also giving people the opportunity to try something new,\u201d Naomi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kavi Dey \u201926 worked on the aircraft over a summer, balancing senior thesis research in physics with evening shifts in the makerspace working with other students on the plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dey worked mostly on the cowling, an air-tight fiberglass cover in the front of the plane, and the avionics, the hardware inside the plane that measures altitude and speed and communicates with the engine. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/kavi-plane1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15654\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/kavi-plane1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/kavi-plane1-300x176.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Kavi Dey \u201926 and Marina Bellido \u201926 work on the cowling of the Vans RV-12iS airplane with engineering professor David Harris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think it&#8217;s awesome that we got to take a pile of metal and turn it into a thing that actually flies in the air,&#8221; Dey said. \u201cIt was such a unique experience to get to actually build a plane, learn how to use all the tools, and also learn about the physics and the engineering behind how to make something that is strong and can lift itself and is safe to be in. And it was great to see the electrical side of the wiring, the pneumatics and all the different pieces come together. It was such a cool project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In all, over 100 members of the Harvey Mudd community\u2014including students in E15, summer teams and visiting high school students\u2014contributed approximately 4,000 hours of labor to complete the aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1100\" height=\"619\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/plane-in-makerspace.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15658\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/plane-in-makerspace.jpg 1100w, https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/plane-in-makerspace-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/plane-in-makerspace-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/plane-in-makerspace-1024x576.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Students celebrating their first alignment and attachment of the airplane&#8217;s wings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWatching the students build the wings, the tail, the fuselage, then the finishing kit, mount the engine, fit the cowling and install the avionics\u2014a large, complex system\u2014it\u2019s been really rewarding,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne of the things I love about Harvey Mudd is that our students go out and build things,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Vans RV-12iS will be the last plane constructed at the College for the foreseeable future, freeing up space and resources for more experiential learning projects including Formula 1 race cars, rockets and autonomous submarines.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A second airplane built by Harvey Mudd students received its official airworthiness certificate this past summer and took to the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":15653,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,967],"class_list":["post-15650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-engineering","category-general-feed"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15650"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15665,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15650\/revisions\/15665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}