TEXARKANA, Texas -- Texarkana Independent School District recently announced a partnership that will provide students with a new hands-on learning opportunity in aerospace engineering.
During a regular meeting on Wednesday, the TISD Board of Trustees approved a partnership with Tango Flight, an innovative course in which students build virtually all of a full-sized, fully operational airplane in school. Along with the aviation and aerospace classroom portion of the curriculum, students will work together to build an RV-12iS – a two-seater, light-sport aircraft.
Superintendent Dr. Doug Brubaker said TISD is one of only 20 districts in the nation to have a Tango Flight program and, in the coming school year, Texas High School will be one of only five schools in the state of Texas building a Tango Flight aircraft.
The Texas Pioneer Foundation has approved a $49,400 grant to the Texarkana Public Schools Foundation to fund half of the aircraft kit and first year annual fee for the program.
Tango Flight is an educational non-profit company created to inspire the next generation of engineers, pilots, aviation mechanics and technicians.
"The focus will be on building the plane, and there are a lot of skills that are developed because of that experience," Brubaker said. "The idea of planning and learning how to interpret technical texts, learning about aerodynamics -- those things are all embedded."
Brubaker said about 98% of the process of building the plane will take place on campus, and in the final stages the plane is moved to an airport where the final touches are completed on the aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration certifies the plane, and then flights are conducted.
From there, the plane is sold by Tango Flight, and the proceeds from that sale go back into the program for another kit to be purchased. This process repeats itself to fund the program each school year.
According to the company, many Tango Flight students receive scholarships to attend top engineering schools, while others have taken advantage of the Tango opportunity to land jobs in the aviation industry. This past month, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University established a "Tango Flight" scholarship, exclusively for students in the Tango Flight program, who wish to pursue a college degree in engineering. This scholarship will be worth up to $20,000.
Tango Flight is also currently working with industry leaders to introduce Industry-based certifications for the coming school year. Industry-based certifications (IBC) ensure students have the skill sets that the aviation and aerospace communities are looking for in future employees.
TISD has the ambitious goal of starting this program in the fall of 2022, with the target location for the classes to be held in a former storage building on campus.
"We think we've got the pieces needed to move forward, based on the dialogue with the folks at Tango Flight," Brubaker said. "A lot of work has already gone into this, and we're really grateful to the Texas Pioneer Foundation for their grant to help with the start-up cost."
The next steps will include developing a staff for the class and getting the word out to students who would potentially be interested. TISD will soon be looking for potential volunteers in the community with aviation experience who would like to contribute to the program.
"As a Board, we are committed to provide our students with STEM opportunities that are innovative and meaningful, as well as opportunities and skill sets necessary to be smart, competitive and successful adults," TISD Board President Fred Norton, Jr. said. "The Tango Flight program will go beyond anything our students have experienced before, and we cannot wait to see the aircraft our students build."