Teen Tackles Homebuilt Airplane Project

While there may be nothing unusual about a 15-year-old spending the holidays working on an airplane kit, Rusty McCullough plans to do more than hang this one from his bedroom ceiling. Just before Christmas, McCullough, who lives in Tehachapi, Calif., received the empennage of an RV-7A he’s now building at the local airport. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s going to be a lot of work to build this airplane, Rusty told the Tehachapi News. “This will be a bit more complicated than the Lego models I used to put together.” The only help he’s getting from adults is a lift to and from the airport, as well as some carefully selected Christmas presents in the form of some of the tools he needs. [more] As you might expect, McCullough is no stranger to aviation. He grew up flying with his mother and grandmother and has already soloed a glider. He plans to continue his glider training and get his private certificate when he’s old enough. And he already has plans for the RV-7A. McCullough intends to have it finished by the time he starts college so he can use it to come home on weekends.