The recently acquired maintenance training helicopter. Photo by Joel Willick
Students from the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies will now have a rare opportunity to learn the systems and maintenance of a helicopter.
SIIT recently acquired a training maintenance helicopter from, Sikorsky, an aircraft manufacturer in the U.S and a Lockheed Martin company.
The helicopter will be used for their Aircraft Maintenance Engineer program.
The S-76 helicopter is valued at $1.3 million, and according to officials it will give students an opportunity to learn firsthand knowledge of helicopters.
“The addition of the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter to our aircraft training fleet allows us to provide a greater hands-on experience to our students in a wide array of systems typical of modern helicopters,” says SIIT President and CEO Riel Bellegarde.
The S-76A helicopter was withdrawn from active flight status in 2015 after performing 26,291 hours in flight since 1980.
Students, faculty and government education officials were all on hand to view the new helicopter trainer at an event in Saskatoon on Friday morning.
During the ceremony, William Talk, Sikorsky’s program team leader in Stratford, Connecticut, urged students to embrace a career in aviation engineering.
“I encourage students at SIIT to think expansively about the knowledge they are acquiring when they learn to inspect and maintain a modern helicopters,” he says.
Students at the Aviation Learning Centre have been working with the helicopter since it arrived in August.