WMU News

College of Aviation opens doors for public tours Oct. 9

Sept. 23, 1999

KALAMAZOO -- State-of-the-art aviation education facilities, from flight simulation labs to aircraft maintenance areas, will be on display Saturday, Oct. 9, as Western Michigan University's College of Aviation hosts an open house for prospective students and interested members of the public.

The college's facilities, located at Battle Creek's W.K. Kellogg Airport, will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with tours scheduled for every 30 minutes from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

"This is a great chance for prospective students and others to get a close-up look at the aircraft we use and the wonderful facilities we have for training," says Tony Dennis, director of recruitment for the college. "We have one of the largest collegiate fleets in the country and our labs and training areas are second to none."

Those attending will have an opportunity to meet members of the faculty and staff as well as student aviators who are members of the Sky Broncos, WMU's premier collegiate flight team. Visitors will be able to tour the Flight Operations Building, which includes the flight dispatch area and the Aviation Education Building, which includes classrooms, computer laboratories, a library and a sophisticated flight simulation lab. Tours also will include the Aviation Maintenance Building, which includes maintenance hangars, test cells, classrooms and maintenance education labs.

The college's fleet of some 60 aircraft will be on display. It includes single and multi-engine planes, sophisticated Mooney Ovation aircraft, Extra 300L aerobatic trainers, helicopters and a float plane.

The Oct. 9 open house will coincide with WMU's On-site Admissions Day, which will be held on the main campus in Kalamazoo. That annual event allows students to come to the campus, meet with admissions counselors, complete their applications and find out the same day if they will be admitted to the University.

The College of Aviation enrolls more than 600 students who are pursuing one of four degree options: aviation flight science; aviation maintenance technology/advanced technology; aviation maintenance technology/maintenance management; and aviation science and administration. The college recently announced an agreement with Mesaba Airlines which allows WMU aviation graduates, because of the quality of the training at WMU, to compete for flight positions with Mesaba earlier than those from other universities.

The college also is home to an International Pilot Training Centre, which has 80 students training under contracts with British Airways, Aer Lingus and Emirates Airlines.

Advanced registration is not required to attend the open house, but those wishing to bring a large group are asked to call 964-6375 to arrange a tour.

Media contact: Cheryl Roland, 616 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu


Office of University Relations
Western Michigan University
1903 W Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA
616 387-8400
univ-rel@wmich.edu

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