Aircraft Project Background
Bahamas Habitat
Bahamas Habitat is a US non-profit organization established to assist in the mission of Bahamas Methodist Habitat (BMH) on the island of Eleuthera in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The mission of BMH is to improve substandard housing and build community in the Bahamas. BMH is active on the island of Eleuthera and wants to expand its mission to other islands in the Bahamas. The logistics of travel in the Bahamas require the expenditure of an excessive amount of time since all travel whether by ferry or airline must pass through the hub of Nassau, New Providence. Having an aircraft would reduce the travel time from Eleuthera to Abaco by five hours in each direction. The straight line distance is 74 miles. Bahamas Habitat desires to provide an aircraft to the mission on Eleuthera to expand the capabilities and potential of this vital mission.
Broughton Transportation Academy
Broughton Transportation Academy is an effort by Needham B. Broughton High School in Raleigh to highlight career education in the transportation fields.
The excitement of building an airplane that will be used for real purposes in the Bahamas can:
Introduce aviation design and build concepts to high school students
Create interest in aviation among other students at Broughton and other schools and draw attention to the program
Stimulate more interest in aviation benefits and career opportunities in aviation
This project can also help draw interest to the NCDOT and the ACE Academy, which is designed to educate students about the aviation careers that can offer interesting and exciting jobs now and in the future.
The Project
Bahamas Habitat will supply the funding and aircraft materials for Broughton Transportation Academy students to rebuild a Piper Cherokee 180 aircraft under adult supervision. The construction project is estimated to take a full academic year. Bahamas Habitat will provide volunteers to mentor the students in aviation careers and will provide technical advisors to assist in the construction of the airplane. At the completion of the project, each student who participated in the project will be given the opportunity to fly the airplane. Opportunities will be available to interested students for further flight training in the aircraft.
The aircraft will be flown to Eleuthera to be placed into service providing inter-island travel to further the mission of Bahamas Methodist Habitat.
