Also Signs Up For 28 Aerosim Products For NextGen Pilots

Delta Connection Academy President and CEO, Captain Gary Beck, set the stage at Thursday's briefing at AOPA Expo by describing his academy's pilot training program by the numbers: training pilots for more than 15 years; flying more than 1.7 million hours of accident-free flight; a fleet that flies more than 127,000 hours of per year; 2,500 former student pilots who now sit in first officer seats; 17,000 pilot certificates earned over the past five years.

Figures to be proud of, to be sure. But Delta Connection Academy is not about to rest on its tricycle gear. As a leading aviation institution, Delta Connection Academy joined with its training partners, Aerosim Technologies and Cirrus Design, to share its vision of "next generation flight training" in Palm Springs.

Following the recent announcement of the acquisition of 50 Cirrus SR20 aircraft, with options for additional aircraft until 2008, Captain Beck announced that the Academy will purchase multiple units of Aerosim's Cirrus Avionics Systems Trainer and Aviator(tm) Advanced Aviation Training Device (ATD) for use in its general aviation flight training programs. In addition to its main campus at the Orlando/Sanford International Airport, the Academy is a flight-training partner for five colleges and universities across the country and has a total enrollment of more than 800 flight students.

Delta Connection Academy, he said, will be providing a level of training in a highly structured way by using the best aircraft manufacturing and simulator technology. The incorporation of the advanced training tools and the SR20-G2s, will "enhance students' skills and provide them with a flight training experience identical to that which is found in the airlines."

The PC-based Cirrus Avionics System Trainer will be used for the introduction of concepts and procedures that will be reinforced in the classroom, practiced in the Aviator, applied in the Flight Training Device, and mastered in the Cirrus SR20-G2.

"We are excited that from day one, our student pilots will be immersed in training technology previously available only in the airline industry," said Beck, shown above.

The combination of the $16 million acquisition of Glass Cockpit equipped Cirrus SR20-GS aircraft and the PC-based Cirrus Avionics allows Delta Connection Academy to provide expand its training both domestically and abroad.

Pooling together their businesses, said Beck of the Academy, Cirrus, and Areosim, will allow them to "stand the test of time in an ever-changing technology environment."

FMI:  www.deltaconnectionacademy.com, www.cirrusdesign.com, www.aerosim.com