Group Building Plane For

Armless Pilot

By Bob Vosseller MANCHESTER

–A dreary, wet day only served to bring a of fun and color to the inside of the township Elementary School that was packed with teachers, administrators, students and parents recently.

Principal Jill Moore was greeting students along with Vice Principal Ellen Healy and teacher Jen Gilbert. The fun

(Fun Fair - See Page 16)

Manchester Students Beautify Toms River’s Memorial Garden

By Bob Vosseller

MANCHESTER –Around 40 township students recently helped beautify the local Children’s Memorial Garden in Toms River. Manchester Township High School (MTHS) and Manchester Township Elementary School (MTES) students were not with their classes on the school playground, or outside for gym class, but chose to volunteer their time providing community service at the garden located at Winding River Park.

The MTHS Habitat for Humanity Club and Interact Club students teamed up with the MTES Junior Impact Club students for a spring clean-up. Students trimmed, planted, raked, swept and learned all about the Memorial Garden from one of the facility’s founders who told students a story about his child whose name graces the first paver to be placed in the Memorial Garden

(Garden - See Page 16)

By Stephanie Faughnan

OCEAN COUNTY – A group of local aviation enthusiasts has undertaken an ambitious project to build a customized

(Pilot - See Page 4)

Pilot:

Continued From Page 1 aircraft for Jessica Cox, an Arizona-based pilot born without arms.

The fifteen volunteers involved in this endeavor are all members of EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) Chapter 898 out of the Ocean County Airport. Many are also actively engaged in the Ocean Air Support Squadron (OASS), a volunteer group dedicated to conducting sunset patrols along the coastline throughout the summer. More than a decade ago, Guinness World Records recognized Cox as the first woman to fly an airplane with her feet. Cox has consistently proven that even the sky poses no limits for her.

At first glance, it may appear counterintuitive that Cox would choose to fly a 1940s vintage ERCO Ercoupe airplane. However, Cox and her husband, Patrick Chamberlain, credit the ERCO developers with an early iteration of technology that continues to facilitate flying for individuals with disabilities.

The beginning of Cox’s association with the Ocean County group unfolded when she encountered others who owned the same type of aircraft that she initially piloted.

Gene Bunt serves as a member of EAA Chapter 898 and is also one of the OASS pilots. As luck would have it, Bunt’s additional position as the director of the Ercoupe Owners Club proved advantageous when Cox found herself in need of local assistance.

“I have known Jessica for many years through the Ercoupe Owners Club,” acknowledged Bunt. “She attends many of our events and conferences.”

On March 18, 2022, Cox and her husband flew to the east coast and safely touched down at JFK International Airport. The couple’s usual sense of joy after a successful flight was short-lived when a jet turned sharply next to them, nearly flipping their plane.

“It might not have been an intentional act, but it was definitely a negligent one,” Chamberlain shared. “Jessica’s plane looked like a New York City taxicab. It’s bright yellow, white and has black checker marks. There’s no way they didn’t see it.”

Cox and Chamberlain had fortunately left the plane for a quick break. However, they came back to huge concerns regarding harm to the aircraft. Given his familiarity with their type of plane and their location, Bunt seemed like the obvious person to reach out to for help.

The call achieved an immediate response as if a family member was in need. Bunt arranged for a mechanic who worked on his personal aircraft to come out to check the extent of the damage. Meanwhile, the interaction over the course of a few days led to some interesting conversations.

Cox and Chamberlain told Bunt about a project they were considering even before the incident that brought them together. The couple had decided to explore alternatives for replacing the aircraft. The 1946 ERCO was not really designed to last as long as it had, and there were other issues.

“Jessica has to sit in basically a crunch,” said Chamberlain. “So, she’s sitting crisscross with one foot on the yoke and the other foot on the throttle. She’s very flexible and very adept at using her legs. But she has a thirty-minute time limit and then needs to be on the ground.”

Amidst the pandemic, the couple took the initiative to approach a kit manufacturer with what they deemed a “crazy idea.” They inquired whether Van’s Aircraft would be open to either modifying one of their existing planes or donating one. The rest is history, with the manufacturer agreeing to supply the kit for an aircraft that would better accommodate Cox.

Building a new plane required more than just gathering the necessary parts. Finding someone with the expertise to put them together was also a challenge. Bunt’s unexpected encounter with the couple proved to be quite serendipitous when he mentioned the possibility of connecting them with someone with the exact experience they needed.

“Gene told us he might know a guy and connected us with Bob,” Chamberlain said. “One of the first planes Bob built with his son was the RV-10, which is the same one we wanted to build and modify.”

Dr. Robert Newman began building planes in 1980. After retiring as the Superintendent of the Ocean County Vocational Technical School District, he found more time to dedicate to his craft. Newman eagerly embraced the proposed project, which will mark his involvement in successfully completing a remarkable total of eleven planes.

Cox admitted that she was elated when

Newman and his crew of volunteers decided to take on the daunting task of building her plane. The group started last August with constructing the first ever designed “for foot” flight.

A few weeks ago, EEA Chapter 898 members organized a barbeque in one of the airport hangars so everyone could meet Cox. Joining the celebration was her husband and Cox’s faithful service pup, Chewy.

Several assembled parts of the aircraft were proudly showcased within the hangar gathering. Newman drew attention to a pair of elevators, which will be located at the back of the plane. Additionally, sections of the tail had already been completed, while the preassembled wings remained stored in a crate.

A team of engineering students from the University of Arizona has weighed in with some suggestions for modifications to the standard aircraft. They’ve been working on the schematic design for the plane’s controls. The team has come up with concepts that still need to be polished.

An essential goal of this particular aircraft design is to document favorable and unfavorable ideas thoroughly. The intention behind this is to avoid the necessity for other pilots with disabilities to start the design process anew.

“We expect we’ll be done building the plane in two more years,” shared Newman. “The fuselage is due in August, and by fall, we’ll start having what looks like an airplane. Right now, it’s all in pieces.”

As Cox extended her heartfelt gratitude (Pilot - See Page 16)

Preschool:

Continued From Page 1 interactive reading sessions, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Township Police Department, Ocean County Sheriff’s Department, Manchester Township Soccer Association, YMCA, PTA and many other agencies and organizations.

Parents came out to meet the staff and learn more about the Universal Pre-school program which has limited spots available. The program is open to those children who will be 3 years old.

Christabella Fragoso, 2, will be attending pre-school next fall, her mother Xiomara Fragoso said. She and her daughter and 9-year-old son Christopher attended the Resource Fair event stopping off first at the car seat safety check operated by officers of the Manchester Police Department. “This looks like a fun event,” Fragoso said. School District Director of Early Childhood Education Lori Burns said, “We have universe we have to fill every year and we base that on first grade calculations and at this point we are almost at capacity. Currently we have 125 regular education students. When you include special education students, we have more than that in our program.”

She added, “our preschool universe for this year is 225 of regular students and there are a few special education students. They can come to Ridgeway Elementary School, Manchester Elementary School or they can come to Whiting Elementary School. For this current year we did have an off-site. There was one class here at Ridgeway and one at MTES. We will have more classrooms at MTES next year.”

“Sometimes we have some students who have to go to Whiting because the classes are full and there are less classrooms for pre-k but we try to accommodate for students as much as possible,” Burns said. She and other school staff members were wearing tie dye T-shirts while teacher volunteers were wearing bright orange t-shirts for the occasion.

“We have a lot of our pre-school teachers, teacher assistants, directors and our superintendent will be here, our school nurse here and everyone is helping out,” Burns added. She brought along her daughter Lila who said she was having fun.

Burns explained “in the pre-school program we have a position called the CPIS which is Community Parent Involvement Specialist Jessica Brosnan. Her role is to connect parents to all the resources and helping parents with anything they might need. She also helped organize this whole day.”

“We’ve been working on this for a few months. We started back in February,” Brosnan said.

Leading up to this event Early Childhood Education staff celebrated the Week of the Young Child (WOYC) from April 17-21. WOYC is a nationwide celebration of early learning, young children, their teachers, families and communities.

School district teachers and principals planned different events which took place each day and had a different theme.

WOYC kicked off with “Tasty Tuesday” which involved students and volunteers at Whiting Elementary who came together to create a tasty, healthy snack to enjoy.

“Work Together Wednesday” featured preschool students at Ridgeway Elementary creating STEM projects. This event had parent volunteers on hand to help. Students set out to build bridges and structures. To do this, they had to explore different materials and textures to come up with creative ways to build.

“Artsy Thursday” featured preschool stu- dents at Manchester Township Elementary School collaborating on art projects made out of recycled materials. Some students painted a recycled tire that they will use as a planter outside their classroom in a garden. Other students used recycled plastic drink bottles to create flower stamps to decorate their classrooms for spring.

The week concluded at Whiting Elementary School which hosted a Family Fun Carnival for families and students to enjoy.

The school district held a Preparing for Kindergarten Parent Workshop on May 3 where parents could register in person for Universal preschool and kindergarten To learn more visit manchestertwp.org/ preschool/registration