New Aircraft And Sims Boost Training Capacity

Florida Institute of Technology is boosting the capacity of its aviation training programs to help address the global need for pilots in the coming years, and it is spending more than $4 million to do it.

The school recently announced a $1 million grant from the Emil Beuhler Perpetual Trust that it will apply toward acquiring two FRASCA Mentor 242 simulators that replicate the Piper Seminole twin-engine aircraft. The school has five of the aircraft in its fleet of 47 total airplanes. The Seminoles are in the process of upgrading with the Garmin G3 Touchscreen avionics.

The school has also just taken delivery of the first four Piper Pilot 100i of the eight ordered. The aircraft have the Lycoming IO-360-B4A 180 hp engine and Garmin G3X avionics and were manufactured in Piper’s facility in Vero Beach, Florida.

President Dr. John Nicklow said, "It means our students are going to train on absolutely state-of-the-art technology. That makes them some of the best pilots in the world.” Nicklow said enrollment in the school’s aviation program jumped 78% from 370 in 2021 to 660 this year. The new airplanes and simulators will “…better prepare us to meet this rising demand with the excellence and cutting-edge approach our students expect of a Florida Tech education,” he added.

FMI:  news.fit.edu/aeronautics-aviation/