DATE: Friday, May 30, 1997                  TAG: 9705290418

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: SPECIAL REPORT: EDUCATION

SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   65 lines

FOLLOW-UP STUDENTS' LESSON WILL TAKE FLIGHT SOON

Since they began building an ultra-light flying vehicle from a kit nearly two months ago, Hunt-Mapp Middle School students involved in the project have drilled more than a few holes and helped to attach everything from a nose wheel to washers.

They've also learned some important lessons in following directions.

No, there haven't been any major glitches.

But adult supervisors recently had to remind students to always follow instructions and to carefully select the parts they needed - after several parts turned up ``missing'' because they had been used in the wrong places.

The re-work was far from fun.

On the whole, though, things have gone pretty smoothly, organizers and students say.

They plan to wrap up construction later next month, when a licensed pilot will test out the ultra-light, which flies between 35 and 65 mph at the altitude of an 80-story building or higher.

``It's been a wonderful learning experience because we get to learn so many new and interesting things and we're finding out how to make something really come together,'' said 11-year-old John Hogan.

Hunt-Mapp school officials - using grades, attendance, behavior and interest as criteria - selected about 30 students for the project, which is aimed at bringing classroom lessons to life.

Several nights each week, students, at least two teachers and a handful of adult volunteers, all of whom are ultra-light enthusiasts, meet after school to work on the 253-pound Quicksilver Sprint 447.

Every now and then, a parent stops by to marvel or help out.

It's now at least 80 percent complete, said Linda Ridenour, coordinator of the school's aerospace magnet program.

All of the major parts have been assembled, including the wings and the ``trike,'' a central, triangular structure where the seat rests.

Aside from its engine and a special parachute - both of which will soon be attached - the ultra-light consists mostly of aircraft-grade aluminum tubing and blue-and-white fabric similar to that used for boat sails.

School officials have yet to finalize plans for the ultra-light after the maiden voyage is history.

Nonetheless, they're considering making the construction project an annual event.

``So much of what they do in school is memorization and that kinda thing,'' said Joseph Bystrom, a Hunt-Mapp art teacher who helps out with the project.

In building the ultra-light, he said, ``they can actually use their brain for something other than just remembering facts.''

In addition to the nuts-and-bolts work, the students have made new friends in volunteer helpers such as Russell Page, a retired mechanical engineer from Norfolk.

A pleasant, silver-haired man with a knack for explaining how tools work, he decided to pitch in after Ridenour told him about the project early on.

``This is a really good way for them to learn math,'' said Page, who routinely quizzes the students on how to convert inches to other measures of length.

``This is the kind of experience they need to have to understand how things work.'' ILLUSTRATION: Drawing

KEN WRIGHT/The Virginian-Pilot KEYWORDS: SPECIAL REPORT EDUCATION

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