Watonga High School is pursuing a program that would teach its aviation students to build a plane.
During the February 9 board meeting, superintendent Kyle Hilterbran explained the opportunity to the board.
An aircraft company, Tango, will send a kit to the school and the students will construct the aircraft over the next two years.
“So this is about the experience of building the plane, not about flying it?” queried board member Aaron Clewell.
Hilterbran confirmed that for him.
The program is not without a price tag. The kit is about $115,000 paid in annual installments, but that amount is defrayed when the company buys the completed aircraft at that price.
On top of the kit cost, there are associated costs of $18,000 in tools and $16,000 each year for curriculum. Hilterbran was of the opinion that aviation grants that the school has won the past few years could be sought again to cover the costs.
The construction site would be inside the former technology shop at the old middle school, where there are rollup doors and sufficient space to work.
“We’re still exploring it, it isn’t a done deal yet,” he said.
However, on February 17, when U.S. Senator James Lankford spoke at the Watonga Lions Club, Hilterbran asked him if the senator could help the school build a partnership with various aviation companies doing business in Oklahoma.
Lankford was all in on the idea, citing several companies his field representatives would put Hilterbran in contact with.
The hoped- for partnership could guide students toward a career in the aviation industry.
Lankford noted that as much as a quarter of the F35 fighter is built from parts made in Oklahoma and that the industry is looking for partners and places in the state where it can build the workforce it needs.
Watonga could be such a location as the school has instituted the aviation program and the Oklahoma Department of Aeronautics and Aerospace has earmarked $3 million for improvements to the existing airport and construction of more hangars, a taxiway and terminal.
Sen. James Lankford had a lively conversation with Watonga School Superintendent Kyle Hilterbran on the possibility of partnerships between the school ‘s aviaiton program and aircraft related businesses seeking qualified employees.