Page 6 - Volume 15 Number 4

Through a partnership with Rockwell Collins, UND’s King Airs were upgraded to Pro Line Fusion avionics. The partnership allowed UND to provide feedback on the avionics while at the same time giving students the opportunity to learn a popular avionics system. (Credit: Jacob Canty)
certificate with multi-engine class and instrument ratings.
This class is a requirement for Professional Pilot track students and an elective for other flight scholars. Eric Metoyer, assistant director for the School of Aviation Studies, provides some insight into the course’s history. “The university desired an aircraft that had turbine engines to provide higher performance,” he says. “They were needed to help OU create a turbine transition class thus allowing our students to train to the next level of flight performance. Exposing students to flying aircraft with turbine engines helped close the gap in knowledge and skill between twin reciprocating engines and the jet engines of business and commercial aviation. Providing our students the opportunity to fly a twin-turbine aircraft definitely sets the University of Oklahoma apart from many other programs. Having spoken with regional and major airline representatives numerous times, I certainly get the impression that they hold our turbine transition training in high regard.”
While King Airs are flown at several colleges across the country in faculty and staff transport roles, there are several aviation programs that offer training in some model of twin turboprop to their students. Among the short list of schools operating these aircraft are the University of Oklahoma and the University of North Dakota, both well-respected universities turning out dozens of professional pilots in every graduating class.
University of Oklahoma
The aviation program at the University of Oklahoma (OU) has been a staple since 1947 at the largest college in the state. Though the current fleet is primarily Piper- based, they do incorporate other aircraft and systems allowing for an array of training, building from the simple to the complex.
4 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
As they work through their ratings, the school’s roughly 165 flight students become familiar with more complex aircraft during their multi-engine training. Whether this is completed in one of the school’s two Piper PA44-180 Seminoles or their Advanced Aviation Training Device (AATD), the groundwork is laid for future flights that are not offered in many other college aviation programs.
This is because the program has a 1996 Beechcraft C90A (serial number LJ-1428). N370U has been in the program since 2005, when the aircraft was purchased to replace the school’s Aero Commander, which was used for many years for advanced multi-engine training. The King Air is currently employed as the flight article in support of OU’s Turbine Transition Course, which students are able to take once they have their commercial pilot
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APRIL 2021