Also Signs Up For 28 Aerosim Products For NextGen Pilots
Delta Connection
Academy President and CEO, Captain Gary Beck, set the stage at
Thursday's briefing at AOPA Expo by describing his academy's pilot
training program by the numbers: training pilots for more than 15
years; flying more than 1.7 million hours of accident-free flight;
a fleet that flies more than 127,000 hours of per year; 2,500
former student pilots who now sit in first officer seats; 17,000
pilot certificates earned over the past five years.
Figures to be proud of, to be sure. But Delta Connection Academy
is not about to rest on its tricycle gear. As a leading aviation
institution, Delta Connection Academy joined with its training
partners, Aerosim Technologies and Cirrus Design, to share its
vision of "next generation flight training" in Palm Springs.
Following the recent announcement of the acquisition of 50
Cirrus SR20 aircraft, with options for additional aircraft until
2008, Captain Beck announced that the Academy will purchase
multiple units of Aerosim's Cirrus Avionics Systems Trainer and
Aviator(tm) Advanced Aviation Training Device (ATD) for use in its
general aviation flight training programs. In addition to its main
campus at the Orlando/Sanford International Airport, the Academy is
a flight-training partner for five colleges and universities across
the country and has a total enrollment of more than 800 flight
students.
Delta Connection Academy, he said, will be providing a level of
training in a highly structured way by using the best aircraft
manufacturing and simulator technology. The incorporation of the
advanced training tools and the SR20-G2s, will "enhance students'
skills and provide them with a flight training experience identical
to that which is found in the airlines."
The PC-based Cirrus Avionics System Trainer will be used for the
introduction of concepts and procedures that will be reinforced in
the classroom, practiced in the Aviator, applied in the Flight
Training Device, and mastered in the Cirrus SR20-G2.
"We are excited that from day one, our student pilots will be
immersed in training technology previously available only in the
airline industry," said Beck, shown above.
The combination of the $16 million acquisition of Glass Cockpit
equipped Cirrus SR20-GS aircraft and the PC-based Cirrus Avionics
allows Delta Connection Academy to provide expand its training both
domestically and abroad.
Pooling together their businesses, said Beck of the Academy,
Cirrus, and Areosim, will allow them to "stand the test of time in
an ever-changing technology environment."