EAA Aviation Center, Oshkosh, Wis. - April 28, 2005 - It’s one thing to see your artwork displayed on a wall. But imagine if your canvas was a GlaStar airplane!
Aaron Mentkowski, 17, of Bay Village, Ohio won’t have to imagine much longer. His entry was chosen tops from all of the entries in the EAA 2005 Youth Art Competition, and his design will be painted on an official EAA Young Eagles airplane within weeks. There will be a special unveiling ceremony in May.
More than 200 people from more than 20 states entered the 2005 competition. There were three age categories in the contest.
EAA’s Mary McKeown, contest coordinator, said the most common themes were red, white and blue combinations; eagle designs and flame designs.
“This is different from anything we’ve done before,” McKeown said. “In the past, it was a theme-oriented, with free-hand drawings. But this year we provided a template of the airplane and they created some fantastic paint schemes.”
But that didn’t make it any easier to pick the winning entries.
“It was tough to narrow it down to two in each age category,” McKeown said.
The winners were selected by a panel of judges along with input from Scheme Designers of New Jersey, which used computer technology to convert the artwork for the airplane. Gulfstream of Appleton, Wis., is in the process of painting the actual aircraft, using the specifications from Scheme Designers. All entries are available in a special section of the Young Eagles Gallery.
Planning someday to be a military pilot, Aaron said he worked on his design for two weeks, knowing from the beginning the design would include lines, curves and swirls of color transitions. But once he got the design down, it took about two days to complete.
He’s been interested in aviation since he took his first airplane ride at 8, after winning a radio contest to fly to San Diego and meet the Olsen twins, MaryKate and Ashley.
“As soon as the plane took off, I didn’t even think about the Olsen twins,” Aaron explained. “I remember being at a mall there and racing around it, pretending to be an airplane.”
Now working toward his private pilot license, Aaron said he can’t wait to see his design flying. “It’s going to be unbelievable to think that I designed that thing.”
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THE WINNERS ARE:
Ages 9 and under
Katie Hartman, 9, Wauwatosa, Wis.
Alexandra Pulley, 8, Doral, Fla.
Honorable Mention
Ages 10-13
Melodie Ha, 11, Cresskill, N.J.
Nick Larson, 13, Sheboygan, Wis.
Honorable Mention
Ages 14-17
Aaron Mentkowski, 17, Bay Village,
Ohio
Matthew Poss, 14, Fond du Lac, Wis.
Director’s Award
Daniel Ruffin, 17, Bellbrook, Ohio.
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