Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has purchased 16 high-tech Cessna 172 aircraft equipped with the Garmin G-1000 glass cockpit suite and the industry-leading automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) system. The acquisition makes Embry-Riddle the nation’s only university to combine the technically advanced aircraft cockpit suite and the ADS-B collision-avoidance system in its training fleet.

The large order also ensures that all students in Embry-Riddle’s flight program will be able to pilot these advanced aircraft during their flight training.

Embry-Riddle installed the FAA-standard ADS-B collision-avoidance system in its fleet in 2003 because it provides the extra margin of safety required for professional flight training. A large multifunction panel in the aircraft’s cockpit gives flight instructors and students real-time information on potential air traffic threats.

“We believe the Cessna 172 equipped with both the glass cockpit and ADS-B is the safest, most reliable, and most economical way to teach advanced flight technology,” says Frank Ayers, chair of the flight department at the university’s Daytona Beach, Fla., campus.

The university is also adding the Garmin G-1000 glass cockpit to its fleet of Frasca level-6 flight training devices to allow for a more seamless transition between flight simulation and flight training in its aircraft.

“This combination of glass cockpit simulation, on-board collision avoidance, and technically advanced aircraft sets the standard for collegiate aviation,” says Tim Brady, dean of the College of Aviation at the campus.

Many of the new planes will be equipped with autopilots in order to conduct special training in “technically advanced aircraft,” a designation under the FAA Industry Training Standards (FITS) program developed by Embry-Riddle researchers with the aviation industry and other aviation-oriented academic institutions. The FITS program creates scenario-based curriculums aimed at preparing pilots to fly automated, high-performance aircraft. Cessna Aircraft has adopted the FITS curriculums for its own pilot-training program.

FMI: www.erau.edu