Sponsored by EAA Chapter 406
Ready to fly: A look at the first Kitsap-built, electric-powered, solar-sourced airplane
Peiyu Lin Kitsap Sun July 15, 2025, 11:27 a.m. PT
It's an electric plane that will charge using solar power, but also more than that. A recently completed project also is the story of a friendship created among those who built it, and young people with growing careers in aviation.
After four years of efforts, a Bremerton Aviation Center for Education(BACE) program that gathered enthusiasts to build an electric-powered Xenos motor-glider at Bremerton National Airport is complete. BACE, a project of Experimental Aviation Association (EAA) Chapter 406, unveiled its Xenos in a ceremony at the airport on July 11. When Central Kitsap High School student Annika Pexton, 17, one of the over 40 people involved in building the plane, piloted the motor-glider on the runway that day, participants swelled with pride.
There is one more step before the Xenos, likely the first electric-powered plane built in Kitsap County, can reach the sky. An FAA inspection must be completed before it can be flown for the first time, anticipated to take place in the next month or so.
Mike Friend, co-founder of BACE and a retired Boeing executive, recalled that Pexton was 13 when she first showed up at the airport to join the group. Throughout the years, Pexton, like many volunteers in this program, kept coming back every Wednesday and Saturday to build the plane.
"We promised her that if she stuck with it, we would get her her pilot's license. And so we did. About two months ago, she passed her FAA exam and is now a licensed glider pilot," Friend shared the story at the ceremony, attended by EAA members, project volunteers, Port of Bremerton staff, and the mayor of Bremerton.
A veteran who joined the project with an interest in learning more about aviation has gotten his private pilot license, FAA mechanics license, started an aviation business in Bremerton, and will soon get his power plant license. Another participant received a scholarship through the EAA chapter and has been learning to become a private pilot, Friend said.
"We've had a lot of these success stories about kids that get excited and actually go on to start building a career out of them. So I'm very pleased about that," Friend said.
Pexton's mother, Kyrsten Kehlenbach, drove her to the airport almost every week before Pexton got her driver's license.
"They've taught her so much (about the plane), working with her hands, building pieces, working with the tools, being on the team," said Kehlenbach, who witnessed Pexton's years of growth and the mentorship she received from chapter members.
A peek into the future of aviation
It took about 2,500 man-hours to build the Xenos, according to Friend. While the educational purpose of this project is fulfilled, it also allowed participants to peek into the future of aviation, Friend said.
The motor-glider will be charged at the first public-access electric aircraft charging port in Washington, which is installed on the ramp at the airport. The electricity for charging the aircraft will come from an array of solar panels that have been installed on the roof of the BACE building, donated by Greg Williams of Sunergy.
According to BACE, the battery onboard the Xenos will allow for around 45 minutes of flight, and then recharge in about two hours. Central Kitsap High School student Madeline Johnson, was commissioned to paint an artwork to illustrate the charging process. Not a pilot herself, she's intrigued to know more about aviation via this opportunity, she said.
Illustration by Madeline Johnson of Kitsap Central High School shows how solar panels on the roof of the BACE building provide electricity to refuel the Xenos motor-glider.
Since the purpose of the plane is to "give kids their first young eagles flights," which normally will take about 15 minutes, "it's just enough to get them really interested and kind of get them hooked a little bit. So we'll be able to make two or three flights in the morning, and then we'll plug the airplane in while we're eating lunch, and then do two or three flights in the afternoon," Friend said.
"So I think for our purposes, this technology will work just fine," Friend said.
Pexton said her biggest achievement via this project, in addition to getting her license, was that she could pass the knowledge to the newcomers after learning it from other members.
"I reached a point where I became less a student and more a mentor, where I got to, you know, of course, I'm always learning, but less of sitting there taking it all in and starting to pass all the knowledge to newcomers. And that was kind of like my big achievement, because it felt like I really earned my place here and have the skill to pass it on," Pexton said.
Pexton said she would like to pursue an engineering program at the University of Washington, but she will still come back and keep in touch with the members. She doesn't want to lose the connection here, she said.
Also a volunteer to build the plane since 2021, Cara Alferness said the friendship built among the participants is the most rewarding part of this journey.
"Not just the skills, but the camaraderie of the team-building, working with a group of pilots to learn about all the aviation world and aspect, like solving problems with each other, it was just a great group to work with," Alferness said
EAA is a nonprofit headquartered in Wisconsin with 200,000 members in over 100 countries, including a chapter in Kitsap County.
In 2017, with the purpose of teaching aviation knowledge and providing hands-on learning experiences to the public, some EAA members in Kitsap established an aviation education center at the airport. The members turned a former firehouse near the entrance of the airport into BACE and positioned a multi-screen flight simulator at the center.
The project to build the Xenos began in 2021. BACE members bought a partially built kit, called "Xenos," produced by a kit aircraft manufacturer, Sonex Aircraft, from an owner in California. They installed an electric propulsion system donated by an aerospace company ZeroAvia, on the glider to turn it into an electric-powered aircraft, which is known as "eXenos," Kitsap Sun previously reported. The prototype of an electric Xenos was first built by Gabrial DeVault in California in 2020.
Check out our build progress on the EAA Builders Log
A Huge Thank You to Oregon Aero for the fabulous interior in our eXenos
Oregon Aero created a custom interior that has adjustable seating to accommodate everyone from our petite students to our 6'2" instructor!
The Wings are coming together.
Click here to see the BACE informational poster
See our progress at EAA 406 eXenos Builders Log Site
Upload pictures at https://eaabuilderslog.org/?
See us in the Kitsap Sun here.
A Great Big Thank You to Bosch for their generous tool donation.
Building an airplane is a family affair.
Marc working on the fuselage
Pulling Rivets! Both stabilizers are closed.
John helps the crew finish the left stabilator
Making Airplane Parts
Mike and Morgan double checking dimensions.
A head scratching moment for Mike, as Morgan looks on.
Young aircraft builders transferring dimensions to the new rib material.
Art, MJ, Morgan, Mike and George (photographer) making ribs for the eXenos v-tail.
The Xenos is fully inventoried and the work area organized, thanks to Mike and Marc.
