Delaware State University (DSU) and Ameravia, Inc. have announced the acquisition, with a firm order, of ten new Vulcanair V1.0 FAA certified single-engine aircraft for the DSU aviation department flight training program with deliveries in late 2018 and the first half of 2019.
The Delaware State University Board of Trustees and administration has chosen to invest $3.5 million dollars into the Aviation Program over the next eight years. Beginning in 2019 thru 2027, the university intends to purchase at least one additional V1.0 training aircraft each year (for a total of up to 20 airplanes), to accommodate expansion of the Aviation Program’s capacity for students majoring in the Professional Pilot degree. These aircraft will serve as the workhorses of our fleet and will allow our students to train on the latest all glass avionics’ cockpit technology, familiar to and used by airlines and in corporate aviation. This will ultimately better prepare our students for success as they enter the aviation industry as a professional pilot.
Our Aviation Management graduates will be qualified for advanced training to fill the future vacancies in Air Traffic Control, with the Federal Aviation Administration, both regional and major airline companies, corporate aviation and all levels of airport administration career fields.
Our Professional Pilot graduates complete six (6) FAA certifications and rating requirements for the Private Pilot License, Instrument rating, Commercial License, Multi-Engine and Certified Flight Instructor ratings while earning a bachelor’s degree. All the graduates of our FAA Approved Part 141 Aviation program get hired into a Professional Pilot job leading to a career in aviation, within 12 months of graduation.
One of the most exciting parts of the DSU Aviation Program, is the constant interaction that exists with our very active Aviation Program Alumni, who are currently flying as pilots in every regional and major airline in the United States of America. These alumni are quite unique, in that they have a keen interest in the career placement of every one of our Professional Pilot and Aviation Management-majors within the aviation industry. No other alumni of a DSU program boasts that kind of loyalty.
The DSU program is approved by the State of Delaware Education Department and the US Veteran’s Administration for Veterans flight training. The pillars of the Aviation Program are: Dedication, Safety, Unity, Attitude, and Professionalism.
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Michael Hales, DSU Director of Aviation Programs had this to say about their decision: “The price of the V1.0 was one obvious reason to change our fleet but it also came down to the logic of the package Ameravia created. The parts logistics package putting parts in our hangar on consignment until needed will help keep our planes in the air. The choice of the G500 avionics is cost effective but still everything we need. Their choice of a Flight Data Recorder that downloads flight and engine data through the cloud should work well for our instructors, students and maintenance staff. It’s a great package.”
DSU has a very interesting history both as a University and a flight training program. In 1939, the United States government funded and introduced the Civilian Pilot Training Act, or the CPTA. The CPTP’s purpose was to train approximately 20,000 pilots each year to prepare for the believed impending global conflict. In an effort to recruit as many potential pilots as possible, the program accepted African Americans and women. The CPTP gave African Americans and women unprecedented opportunities in aviation. Pioneering black fliers campaigned hard for public awareness of their abilities, and their efforts paid off with an antidiscrimination rule within the CPTP — a landmark in racial equality for blacks in aviation. DSU was one of the six Historically Black Colleges chosen for this program.
In May 1940, the first student-graduates of the Civilian Pilot Training Program completed their instruction, and the program of flight training for black students at the various schools was consolidated to Moton Field near Tuskegee Institute. Moton Field gave necessary training for the candidates to continue to the Tuskegee Army Air Field to finish their flight training with the Army Air Corps and become official pilots. From this point on, all the graduates of CPTP at Moton Field were commonly referred to as “Tuskegee Airmen.” The Tuskegee Airmen have one of the most famous and heroic histories of any one military unit.
In 1987 due to the vision of Dr. Daniel E. Coons, the Aviation Program was re-established at DSU. Dr. Coons started with no budget, no faculty (aside from himself), no airplanes, and little DSU administration support, but with seven (7) energetic students and a commitment that no matter what, he would not to fail in this endeavor. For many of those early years, Dr. Coons spent thousands of dollars of his own money to fund student tuition, flight-training fees, countless hours of his time and efforts to help students achieve the goal of being a Professional Pilot. He created a family-like atmosphere and the alumni of the program still revere him to this day. Because of Dr. Coons’ perseverance and devotion to the DSU Aviation Program, the hanger at the Delaware Airpark (33N), for maintenance and storing university aircraft, is appropriately named “The Dr. Daniel E. Coons Hanger,” in honor of him.
Vulcanair Aircraft and Ameravia, the U.S. distributor, are very pleased to become a part of this University and its programs to create new leaders in the aviation community. The Vulcanair V1.0 is the perfect trainer for the DSU flight training program. The V1.0 is a four-seat, FAA certified aircraft which has an all glass Garmin avionics package, with ADS-B In and Out, weather and traffic displays. The aircraft features the recognized best in the field Lycoming IO-360 180HP engine with either fixed pitch or constant speed propeller which provides more performance than the other two most common trainers at a price that is at least $100,000.00 less expensive.
Ameravia is also introducing many new features and benefits to the aviation industry that will make these University aviation programs more successful, as examples, our unique Ameravia Parts Logistics program, our first to introduce to the industry Guardian Avionics’ CO Detector/SmartLInk Flight Data Recorder system for iPad in the Cockpit as well as what we consider to be the best digital manual system which will, combined, provide the most comprehensive management system currently available for a flight school.
