In the Fall of 1996 Canadore College added the Aircraft Structural Repair Technician Program to its Aviation Maintenance training cluster. The ASR program joined the Aircraft Maintenance and Avionics Maintenance programs positioning Canadore College as the only comprehensive Aviation Maintenance Training college in the province of Ontario.

In the fall of 1997 an aircraft construction project was given consideration as a means of showcasing the ASR program and providing Canadore students the skill and experience in aircraft assembly and repair.

As far as choosing an aircraft to build a short list wasn't necessary. Granted, we did waffle between the RV-6A and the RV-6 for a day or so, but the final decision resulted in the purchase of a RV-6 kit that was delivered in December of 1997.

The kit arrival could not have been better timed. The ASR class of 97-98 with a semester under their belt was eager to get started. They meticulously prepared the fuselage jig and commenced work on the fuselage section.

The ASR class of 98-99 continued the good work taking the fitted and epoxy primed fuselage through final assembly and finished out the semester by getting it "right side up" and on its wheels. This group also prepared both wing spars, assembled the right wing and completed work on the right hand wing tank.

Starting in January 2001 the ASR class of 00-01 will continue the RV-6 project with the Aircraft Maintenance program preparing the Lycoming 0-320-E2D powerplant and the Avionics Maintenance students starting the initial design work on the avionics and aircraft systems.

With the announcement of funding for Canadore's new aviation training facility at North Bay's Jack Garland Airport, we have set the official rollout ceremony for Fall 2002 through a new set of hangar doors. Rest assured, we don't feel finding a preferred location for the RV will be much of a problem in this planned 65,000 square foot facility.

The long-term plan is to include this aircraft with the other training aircraft at Canadore, but the RV-6 will maintain an operational status.