Classes Underway At Fort Worth Alliance Airport

Bell Helicopter's Customer Training Academy began classes this week at its newly opened facilities at Alliance Airport, Fort Worth, TX. Bell's Customer Training Academy, in operation for nearly 60 years is the world's foremost civilian training school for helicopter pilots and maintenance personnel.

Since 1947 when the company began instructing pilots to fly the Bell 47 helicopter the CTA has trained over 90,000 students from more than 100 nations. While the Bell CTA is a civilian school, the company has also trained tens of thousands of military personnel over the years.

"The Bell Customer Training Academy, with its state-of-the-art facilities and world-class instructors is an enormously important part of our goal to be the world's premier aircraft manufacturer," said Bell Helicopter CEO Mike Redenbaugh.

The new Bell school is equipped with 18 large modern classrooms and aircraft overhaul labs fitted for the newest learning technology tools including more than 41,000 square feet of hangar space for hands-on maintenance training. 

Bell has built a newly designed helicopter training heliport within a few minutes flying time of the Customer Training Academy. The new practice area for flight training has been constructed on 100 acres just to the Northwest of the Texas Motor Speedway. The practice area (PA) has three runways, a 2000-foot lighted North/South runway an 850-foot North/South runway and an 850ft East/West runway. There are four separate concrete landing pads. Full-time rescue personnel provide on-site support with a rescue cab and fire truck at their disposal. This entire site is dedicated solely for the use flight training at the Bell Customer Training Academy. The location of the school previously was in Hurst near the company's current headquarters and manufacturing center.

The Bell CTA has a staff of 65 people including instructors and administrative personnel, seven dedicated training helicopters as well as three sophisticated Cockpit Procedures Training Devices.

Students attend the Bell CTA anywhere from one day of refresher training to courses lasting several weeks. Currently there are 50 students attending flight and maintenance training at the Alliance Airport school. They come from all over the United States as well as Canada, France, India, Mexico and the Ukraine. 

FMI: www.bellhelicopter.textron.com