UCI Engineering Students Building Full-Scale Replica Biplane

Photos obtained from the Flying Leatherneck Museum Facebook page

History is being made at the Great Park! A team of students from UCI’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering is building a full-scale replica of a World War I Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplane.

The project is part of a collaboration with the Flying Leatherneck Heritage Foundation — the organization that is currently building the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum, which is expected to open on the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station at the Great Park in early 2027.

UCI graduate students Silvia Tinelli and Stuti Patel are leading the effort with support from faculty advisors. Teams are using original blueprints, historic parts, and modern 3-D printing technology to reconstruct the 1918 aircraft to meet Smithsonian Museum standards.

Once complete, the Jenny will be suspended in the aviation museum’s main rotunda as a tribute to the Marine Corps’ first combat training aircraft.

To review the UCI engineering project, click here. Learn more about the Flying Leatherneck Museum here.