My happy place is an airplane hangar.

I absolutely love it.

And I'm here with Matt, who is somewhat of a humble but like local legend and a little bit of a way you've done some like, really cool things as a pilot, right?

Yeah.

I know we're here to talk about today, Indiana, but I want people we've got quite a while to talk, so I want people to understand a little bit about your background in aviation, too.

So how did you get into aviation?

I grew up out, in California on the eastern Sierra Nevada, out of nowhere.

And so, out there, there were no pilots.

So it was difficult for me to get into flying because I didn't know any pilots.

And that's kind of what inspired stay Indiana was just because, I kind of.

I was that kid that really was interested in aviation and just didn't know how to get into aviation.

Yeah.

So we're trying to help find pathways into that.

But it also from the other aspect of it made me very interested in backcountry flying as well, which is what you kind of hinted at.

So I have a model that doesn't backcountry flying as well.

And, you've actually.

So for anyone who doesn't understand the term backcountry flying, I mean, it's basically when you're kind of landing in the backcountry, right?

So can you just explain a little bit about that as well?

So yeah, I have a Mal M5.

It's a great, amazing airplane.

Yeah.

What I like to say about it is, it likes to land everywhere but airports.

So it lands on what's called off airport.

So I have skis for it to lay on.

Snow.

We have big tires.

They're 31 inch push wheels.

It's capable of running on a rock about the size of my head.

Yeah.

So you can see, it is kind of a Jeep of the air.

You can take it just about anywhere.

I love that, and you did take it just about anywhere.

I mean, you went over to Greenland and then you flew to Iceland, then over to Europe, right?

Yep.

So, yeah, we did a family trip, sort of, I had the family meet me in Greenland, but I have to.

Northern Canada, inside the Arctic Circle, then crossed over into Greenland.

We kind of do some backcountry flying all over Greenland.

Then the Iceland, Faroe Islands, the UK worked our way down through the UK, across the English Channel into Belgium.

And what was it like having to fly all the way back?

Because I think it'll be fun going there.

But then you're in Belgium and you're like, oh, I got to turn around, do it with the headwinds now.

I got good chocolate.

Turn around, came back.

We we had a lot of fun coming back to.

So, there's a lot of good places to stop all along the way over there.

Yeah.

We found just as many places to stop on the way back, so we we stopped at different locations on the way back.

Yeah, to keep it interesting.

So I think when it comes to getting married, find someone that you trust as much as Matt trusts in his single engine.

When he was over the oceans between Greenland and Iceland.

And, it's.

I mean, you probably had their suits and everything on.

Right?

Yeah.

We had no water.

We have survival suits.

Because the water, if there's, colder than freezing.

So, your survival rate is not very high.

So you have to wear basically a dry suit and the life vest and have, like, a life.

Yeah.

Raft right next to it, just in case.

Yeah.

If something happens to that engine.

Yeah, yeah.

No, absolutely.

Your game gets really good when you're over the ocean because everything is going on with your.

Because you're waiting for something to happen.

You start hearing phantom things that really happen.

So stay Indiana.

As somebody who got my pilot's license in Goshen in 2019, this area actually is rich in aviation resources, but it feels like it's just I mean, you can go to some of the airports here that should be thriving and there's just no activity going on.

And it's really sad to see because what and you're trying to really what, stay in the air and trying to break down those barriers.

Right.

For people.

Yeah.

So when we started looking at, different ideas, we were sitting in Oshkosh, which is the largest airshow in the world.

There's a group of us sitting there and, having a discussion and realizing there really wasn't much for local teams in aviation around our area, which is too bad.

You look at a lot of the organization stuff.

I'm usually the young guy, showing up.

Yeah.

I'm not that young, so I should not be.

No, no, I know what you're saying.

So I was like, we need to find some way to get the next generation involved.

Yeah.

So, actually, at Oshkosh, there was a group that had an airplane built.

An airplane built.

So we kind of stole their idea.

They were very nice to help us make sure we don't do the same mistakes that they've done.

Got us in contact with others that have done it as well.

So we can kind of use best practices to make sure we can get it right the first time.

We're closer to the right.

And the whole idea was, yeah, to get it more, families and more, students out into the, local aviation, a lot of people don't even realize, like, the Mishawaka Pilots Club even exists now.

It's great here.

Yeah, yeah, it's.

We gotta get grass strip and, little paved strip.

A lot of airplanes out here that come and go.

But, yeah, even in Elkhart and South Bend, there's, a lot of aviation there that people don't realize.

Small plane wise and so forth.

I'm guilty of this, too.

Is that.

Yes.

If I sit in the plane, I can fly it.

But also, I don't always know, like, I'm not a genius when it comes to I'm not an aircraft mechanic.

Understanding everything that's happening.

So I think this is a really clever way to also get teens and future aviators to really understand what's going on when they're flying and what's beneath.

It also, and can we see the plane that's out here?

So tell me a little bit.

It's a zenith 750 cruiser.

Yep.

This is the zenith 750 cruiser.

It's a light sport.

Is it?

It could be made of the light sport or, the normal experimental category.

Okay, so we're making it for the a little bit heavier use.

Yeah.

So skip the light, sport.

But you can make it for light sport instead.

It holds two people.

And then with full fuel, you're looking at just, with the higher gross weight, you can hold about 500 pounds.

Nice.

So two grown adults, or two smaller adults in some bags.

Yeah, yeah.

So I, I guess I feel I feel targeted right now, but I it's like every time I think about losing 6 pounds, I think I can get an extra gallon of fuel on there, like, you know, so, so why did you pick this airplane?

Is it obviously you can buy it as a kid.

Is it a bit like more affordable or what?

What's the reason?

So there's a lot of, things that went into it.

So as you're probably well aware, there's a lot of different type of planes that we could have picked from, initially we're looking at tail draggers because we were kind of like, well, we have a grass strip.

Nice to go back to kind of grass roots.

The problem is insurance companies don't like tail draggers.

So people that are aware if pilots just stop looping them after they land, you know.

So yeah, people, the pilots that ground loop them.

So, I think it's like less than 10% of pilots can fly tail draggers nowadays.

It's kind of a dying art form.

But because of that, the insurance, rates for more outrageous.

So we're like, we can't afford that.

So, as much as we like it, so we go towards the tricycle gear and then have the tricycle gear ideas.

The zenith is a very quick build, so, we don't lose the interest of the kids.

We don't want some big, long, build where they're working, hours and hours and hours on just one little spot, and they lose interest.

So it's nice and quick so you can see some progress go to keep their interest going.

And it's also, like you mentioned, very cheap.

So, very cheap.

Yeah.

For airplanes it's very cheap.

This is the first time I've ever been around, airplanes.

And I'm getting paid to be here today.

Normally, I lose a couple hundred bucks every time around them.

And if people watching want to get involved, support you if they have teens, as it's still open to people to be able to come out, or is that already structured with the schools or how?

Not.

So we are working on getting into more schools.

So we're currently at the South Bend schools, and then we're working on getting at the, Goshen schools, where it's an actual class at the CT class.

And then we also have an after school program that we do here at the Mishawaka Pilots Club.

Yeah.

After this build is done, which we should be flying it in August, we have plans to get another airplane to start doing again.

And we want to make this kind of perpetual, so we are already taking applications for new students, for the, the August to September timeframe.

We'll start the next one here.

So when they go to our website, it's, stay Indiana dot org to find more information about that.

What I enjoy about this program is, the build is easy to build.

It's preparing me for a real world experience.

Like, it's teaching me, with how the airplane works, fundamentally, where pieces go together, how piece of work together, like the wiring, the instruments, the rudder pedals, everything.

It's teaching me how to read blueprints.

And like I said earlier, it's preparing for, like, real world experiences, like, skill management, resource management, all that kind of stuff.

So after this, no matter if what career I want to go to, either like engineering or being a pilot or just an aircraft mechanic, already I would have like the fundamentals.

What I can do for that of the, definitely.

Especially after this, I was kind of asked first before trying this, but now that I have the all this experience behind me, I definitely know that I'm probably going to be a pilot.

But if that doesn't work out, I can still be like an aircraft mechanic.

Or I can, build airplanes as well.

So I am looking forward to buying this.

Flying this airplane is done because it's a very rewarding experience coming in here week after week, seeing all be put together, knowing that one day this thing is going to be in the air.

And I took part in making this.

So if people want to get more information, as you mentioned, stay indiana.org.

So what does day actually stand for?

It was for Stem and Aviation youth Indiana.

Okay.

And then we also wanted to make the point that you can actually stay right here in Indiana and be in aviation because, most people have this myth of aviation that you have to be living like in Chicago or LAX or, no, it's third of the cost here.

Yeah, yeah, a lot cheaper to live here.

But you can also live here and be an aviation.

Oh, for example, at the Mishawaka Pilots Club, we have several airline pilots that live right here.

Also aircraft mechanics that I live or, based right out of here.

So are actual pilot jobs in, our local area as well as mechanic jobs are doing it right here.

And if they want to move, they can.

But the idea is you can actually stay right here in Indiana and, do aviation.

But I love it here, and I love flying here.

And people talk about it all the time.

It's like, it's all flat and everything.

I was like, we have the most gorgeous sunrises.

The sunsets.

Well, there's loads of airports around the area.

You've got Lake Michigan, you know, to go up and explore.

You can go fly the Chicago skyline along the corridor there.

Like there's a lot of places to go.

Detroit.

I mean, if you really want to go around, I think this is a great place to be for general aviation.

Absolutely.

And if anybody gets a chance to do the skyline so those that aren't aware, yeah, you actually can fly just below the building line along the coast, by downtown Chicago.

It's a very popular roof.

Pilots.

Yeah, yeah.

And it always surprises a lot of people the first time we do it, but different view.

And so while it is fun, obviously for the kids and for you and all the adults involved, there's certifications and everything that they can get from it.

There is an actual education component.

So, part of my idea is to try to get them a jumpstart on a career in aviation, and that can be any part of, aviation.

So obviously with the build, the, most obvious one is maintenance.

So all the kids get put on youth, apprenticeship with an app that we have, and they log hours towards their A&P So they need about 3000 hours to get your A&P And starting next year, we're going to have online training for them to do their general part of their app so they'll get their first of the three tests done for their A&P certificate, which makes them hire well out of the school.

And then when we actually get the plane flying, we'll take the kids up.

And, as of December, the FAA is now starting a low, nonprofit like ours to allow us to strut on the plane with the students, even though it's a, amateur built plane.

And so they'll be able get some flight hours towards the pilots as well.

That's wonderful.

I mean, and trust me, that adds a lot of value.

I mean, whether kids realize it now, but even money wise, that's a lot of value.

But even just getting ahead of the game is a lot of value too.

So I love that.

Well, I can't wait to fly it.

Obviously, once there's an engine and wings and but no, this is great and I love that you're doing it.

And, as you said, as a teenager, I knew nobody that was into aviation.

That's why I got my license when I was 36.

Because it was, you know, one of those dreams that you think is somebody else's.

But you're out here making people realize that it's possible.

So thank you.

Thank you.