>> Once I started it and
I saw what it was about,
I decided that that was my
thing and that was my passion
and that's why I'm in college
now following my passion.
[ Music ]
>> My major is officially known
as aviation maintenance
technology.
We're dealing with the
physical structure of the plane
and the mechanical
operation of the plane.
That's really intense and
we really go into depth.
My senior project consisted
of fabricating the left side
panel of the Pazmany PL-2.
The Pazmany PL-2 was a plane
that was donated to the school
by its previous owner and
it was worked on before
but it didn't really have
much of the body of the plane.
So it just had kind of like
the bones, just the structure.
I decided to go with
the structure of a plane
because I love sheet metal.
I used to work a lot with
sheet metal and just riveting
and cutting and things
like that.
And what I really like about
that is that once you're done,
you do see the results.
You do see what you've made.
So to start out, I first
have to cut the sheet metal.
I did that by measuring
the height
and the length of
the sheet metal.
All right, so right now, I just
cut the metal, and I'm going
to try and see how it
looks on the plane.
After I got that done, I started
trying to figure out the holes,
where they were going to be.
The holes are for attaching
the sheet metal to the plane
so that the sheet metal
just doesn't go flying off.
[ drilling sound ]
After I have all
the holes in place
and everything is measured
correctly, I'll rivet it.
I think that the neatest
thing is just to fly.
I just wondered how
it all worked,
how the plane just
flew like a bird.
And that's why I went to
a specialized high school,
which is Aviation High School,
and there I learned everything
about turbines, the air
frame of the plane
and just how it all worked.
I was attracted to Penn
College because I really,
really liked the program
that they had here.
I also really liked the tools
that are available to me,
the hands-on work, you know,
it's just you just
don't sit there.
You actually do work.
The first time I
walked into the hangar
at the aviation center,
I was just amazed.
We had so many planes
and so many new tools
that I never used before.
We had people that
were there working
and it was actually
hands-on work.
Now it's back to
the project and back
to just getting it all done.
So I'm going to continue on
drilling the holes and then
after I get that done and,
you know, everything ready,
I'll go to the plane and
rivet it all together.
[ drilling sound ]
I first have to drill it with
a smaller size drill bit,
just because I want to make
it very, very accurate.
The second one is going to
be a number 30 drill bit,
which is bigger.
[ drilling sound ]
Wait until you see riveting.
I feel I can definitely
do anything a guy can do
in aviation.
It's just like anything.
We have the capacity
of learning.
We could also do
the hands-on work,
and sometimes we are
better, I think, than guys.
One of my virtues
is just patience.
I do take things
slowly and I make sure
that everything is going right,
because I don't like to rush
and then everything
comes out wrong.
I make sure it's done
good the first time.
What I plan to do after I
graduate from college is to go
for my master's degree.
I'm more oriented towards the
business side and something
that has to do with
aviation, so I thought
about airport management.
And that is a way that I would
combine both of them and I know
that I would really love it.
Overall, the senior project
has taught me new lessons
that I would use
throughout my life.
First I learned about time
management, which is a big thing
because in the real world,
you do need to be organized
about your time and you do need
to have your goals set
and just go for them.
I also learned to
always ask questions.
That I cannot stress enough,
because asking questions as soon
as possible is going
to save a lot
of time and a lot of trouble.
I am so close to finishing
right now, but before I do that,
I have to calculate how
long the rivet has to be
so that it catches both the
sheet of metal and the frame
of the plane, and then
calculate the length
and the diameter
and all that, so.
It takes some time, but
I'm going to get it done.
[ Music ]
I'm two days away from
this project being due.
I'm finally up to the final
step, which is riveting.
I hope that it goes
pretty quick,
because I do have only two days.
But I'm sure that I'm
going to get it done.
[ Riveting sounds and music ]
After my project is done, I
feel so relieved and so good
because I know that I did
it, that it is possible
that if you set your mind to
it, you are going to do it.
That's where I learned
to use these tools.
That was the first tool
I learned, new one.
I'm very grateful because of all
the experiences I have gained
at Penn College.
That gave me the opportunity
for me to learn first,
and then to apply whatever I
learned and to see the results.
It's a really great experience.
Thank you, guys!
[ Clapping and music ]
