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21-508: Poberezny had written series of three articles entitled " Build this plane (Baby Ace) for $ 800, Including Engine " which ran in consecutive 1955 monthly issues of Mechanix Illustrated magazines and Blacker decided to use the plans for the first Schoolflight homebuilt aircraft project. Blacker contacted Poberezny and he supplied a copy of the Baby Ace plans for the program at no charge. Poberezny thought that Blacker's program could provide him with

42-687: A Baby Ace on which he painted to advertise Mechanix Illustrated , which had agreed to publish his project story, to include blueprints , of his Baby Ace build over three consecutive monthly issues. Robert D. Blacker, the aeronautical instructor for St. Rita of Cascia High School , read Poberenzy's story in MI and thought that building a Baby Ace would be an ideal class project. Blacker contacted Poberenzy, who provided Baby Ace plans at no cost and together they founded Project Schoolflight. In September of that year, Blacker and his students began building their first Baby Ace for Project Schoolflight, which would be named

63-453: A four month tour covering 48 states. This outreach program, flown in an Acro Sport I biplane, was intended to encourage schools to either continue in the program or to create their own Project Schoolflight programs by building an Acro Sport, a direct descendant design of the EAA Biplane . Burgess timed his tour so that his final stop would be Oshkosh, Wisconsin , to coincide with the start of

84-563: A new "Mimi" in the January issue. One Mimi did, however, hold the job for a few years in the sixties. An actress from Southern California, she left to live in Hawaii, and a readers' poll was conducted to choose a replacement from a short list. The readers' choice only lasted a short while, and was replaced by one of the runners-up. "Mimi" was discontinued with the change to Home Mechanix . A long-running cartoon feature, Roy Doty 's " Wordless Workshop ,"

105-415: A number of permutations over the years, being called at various points in its life, Modern Mechanics and Inventions , Modern Mechanix and Inventions , Modern Mechanix , Mechanix Illustrated , Home Mechanix , and, in its final incarnation, Today's Homeowner . Although it featured many how-to articles, the most eagerly awaited and read features were Tom McCahill 's monthly automobile tests which ran from

126-487: A start to fulfilling one of his lifetime dreams - to have an "airplane building factory" for homebuilt aircraft. It was from these discussions that both men agreed to co-found Project Schoolflight together. The Project Schoolflight program was initially overseen by both men but it grew so quickly that it became administered by the EAA's Air Museum Foundation instead. The project dissolved around 1978, and would eventually help inspire

147-547: Is currently appearing in " The Family Handyman " magazine. John August Media, LLC acquired the Mechanix Illustrated trademark and revived the magazine as part of TechnicaCuriosa.com, along with sister titles Popular Electronics and Popular Astronomy. Acro Sport I The Acro Sport is a single-seat aerobatic sportsplane designed by US aviation enthusiast Paul Poberezny in the early 1970s for homebuilding . Plans are marketed by Acro Sport Inc . The Acro Sport

168-800: The Spirit of Cascia was sold to an airplane enthusiast from Pine Bluff, Arkansas . As of 2018 it resides in storage at the Greater Saint Louis Air & Space Museum . The EAA Biplane completed made its first flight at the 1961 EAA Fly-in in Rockford, Illinois and was put on permanent display in the EAA Aviation Museum , then located in Franklin, Wisconsin . In 1957, Blacker made available his high school shop for Chicago EAA Chapter #15 to hold their monthly meetings there to help expand awareness of

189-457: The Spirit of Cascia , after Cascia , St. Rita's hometown. Participating in the project inspired the students to form Chapter #39, the first Junior EAA Chapter, including electing student officers. Chapter 39 students also volunteered at the EAA Fly-Ins from 1957 until 1960 where they helped run the competitive flying events. In 1957, the Spirit of Cascia was completed. The second airplane

210-710: The 1974 fly-in there. One of the EAA Museum's centerpiece attractions is the 1903 Wright Flyer replica built by EAA and the Project Schoolflight students at Blackhawk Technical Institute in Janesville, Wisconsin , in 1978. In the summer of 1961, Bob Blacker left St. Rita's High School to work for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in Washington, DC . Blacker incorporated Project Schoolflight into

231-405: The EAA's Young Eagles program, giving children their first flight in a light aircraft . The Young Eagles program would serve to transition EAA from homebuilding planes to introducing young people to flying and encouraging them to become pilots. Mechanix Illustrated Mechanix Illustrated is an American printed magazine that was originally published by Fawcett Publications . Its title

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252-605: The U.S. Department of Transportation/FAA guidelines as an approved educational program. Project Schoolflight started winding down soon after the delivery of the Wright Flyer replica to the EAA Museum in 1978. However, the project served as a forerunner for EAA's follow-on Young Eagles program. In the 2001 Annual Report to EAA Members, Tom Poberezny , Paul's son and then CEO of EAA, remarked: "As we focus on Sport Pilot and Light Sport Aircraft, we will continue to address our core programs built around homebuilder aircraft education ...

273-502: The US, with thousands of students involved. By 1961 almost 400 airplanes were being built at more than 300 schools. In addition ten American prisons used Project Schoolflight as an inmate rehabilitation program. In 1962, due to the project's success, the EAA formalized the establishment of junior EAA chapters, with members to be under 19 years of age, with an adult advisor and sponsored by a regular EAA Chapter. In 1974, EAA member Sam Burgess flew

294-585: The company which published MI , and continued publishing the magazine, renaming it Home Mechanix starting in January 1985. In August, 1996, it was again renamed as Today's Homeowner , and ceased publication with the March/April issue in 2001, being merged into sister publication This Old House . In the 1980s, the magazine featured more and more home repair, remodel and woodworking projects while featuring fewer articles on general technology and automotive projects. A long-running feature of Mechanix Illustrated

315-476: The founding of the very successful EAA Young Eagles program, established in 1992. In 1952, prior to founding the EAA, Paul Poberezny purchased all of the inventory and the legal rights of the then defunct Ace Aircraft Manufacturing Company , including all rights and plans to the Baby Ace sport aircraft, all of which had been left abandoned in an airport hangar in Madison, Wisconsin. Early in 1955, Poberezny built

336-490: The important part of the future is educational outreach programs. They started in 1956 at St. Rita High School with [Project Schoolflight...by Robert Blacker] and his students. That was a showcase initiative that touched a few kids deeply, but we wanted to do more". Because of the EAA's policies on youth education, many prominent educators visited EAA Headquarters to study the Schoolflight program. In 1992, Tom Poberezny founded

357-474: The late 1940s to the early 1970s. McCahill's feisty opinions were delivered in a prose laced with similes that are still quoted today among car enthusiasts: "As anyone brighter than a rusty spike must know..."; flooring the accelerator pedal on a certain car is "...like stepping on a wet sponge"; the clock/tachometer combination on another car is "...about as useful as feathers on a moose." McCahill died in 1974, and three years later CBS bought Fawcett Publications ,

378-451: The project and gain wider involvement. Blacker soon became President of EAA Chapter 15 while continuing to serve as the adult sponsor and advisor to Junior Chapter #39. In 1959, Blacker and Poberezny both appeared on a local TV show on WMVS-TV in Milwaukee. Blacker explained how Project Schoolflight worked, while Poberezny explained EAA activities. Project Schoolflight quickly spread across

399-401: Was "Mimi," a shapely young woman dressed in skimpy overalls with blue and white vertical stripes; and, in the early sixties, a matching railroad engineer's cap (later discontinued). She was in a picture holding, standing beside, sitting on, lying on or just in the picture with a new product each month. Each "Mimi" held the job for a year. Their names were never given except for the announcement of

420-607: Was an EAA Biplane , completed in 1960, five years after the start of the program. At the 1957 EAA Fly-in in Milwaukee, Wisconsin , the "Spirit of Cascia" won an EAA award for "Outstanding Achievement" which was presented by Ray Stits . At the 1958 Fly-in, Blacker was awarded the Mechanix Illustrated Trophy for "Outstanding Achievements in Home-Built Aircraft" for his work in starting Project Schoolflight. In 1961,

441-456: Was founded in 1928 to compete against the older Popular Science and Popular Mechanics . Billed as "The How-To-Do Magazine," Mechanix Illustrated ( MI ) aimed to guide readers through various projects from home improvements and advice on repairs to "build-your-own (sports car, telescope, helicopter, etc)." It was headquartered in New York City. From its debut in 1928, it went through

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