GIRLS BUILD, FIX, & FLY
WOMEN BUILD PLANES is Habitat for Aviation’s
flagship initiative and a powerful “see-to-believe” moment for what’s possible when access, mentorship, and real work come together.
Launched in October 2023, our project brings together a multigenerational, all-female team of women and girls to build a real aircraft from the ground up: a RANS S-21 Outbound. To our knowledge, this is a first in aviation history where women and girls across generations are building an airplane, together.
MORE THAN
A PLANE
WOMEN BUILD PLANES is not a workshop, a class, or a one-day experience. It is a sustained apprenticeship environment where participants show up week after week to drill, rivet, wire, problem-solve, lead, and learn alongside skilled mentors and one another.
WOMEN BUILD PLANES participants gain:
A CULTURE SHIFT
YOU CAN SEE
When women and girls build an airplane together, the narrative changes not just for participants, but for families, educators, employers, peers, and communities who witness the process. Assumptions soften, expectations rise, and new possibilities enter to shift mindsets.
In our hangar, leadership is shared, expertise is learned and earned, mistakes are part of the process, and confidence grows with experience.
Culture shifts with real people doing real work.
PROOF OF
CONCEPT
Once completed, our WOMEN BUILD PLANES team will fly our airplane as a visible testament to that WOMEN BUILD, FIX, and FLY planes. We will travel to airshows and STEM events to spark “see-to-believe” moments. Our Pink-Plane will continue its life as a training aircraft for the women and girls who helped build it.
PART OF A BIGGER SOLUTION
WOMEN BUILD PLANES is our flagship initiative to provide a proof point for solutions to barriers in aviation.
Our WOMEN BUILD PLANES team is a multigenerational, all-female community of builders, mentors, and learners working side by side to construct a real aircraft and expanding who belongs in aviation. Through hands-on work, shared leadership, and unconditional support, our team builds technical skill, confidence, and lasting pathways into aviation careers.
Our other Habitat for Aviation build teams bring together youth and adults of all genders and ages. Mentors, apprentices, and community members work on projects like our Zenith airplane build and other planes that were donated to our organization.
