DSU Expands Aviation Program to Include Helicopter Flight Training
Delaware State University is expanding its Aviation Program to include helicopter flight training. A new partnership between the University and the US Army Cadet Command was announced Thursday. University officials say this expansion will provide helicopter training to US Army ROTC students, but will also later be an option for all undergraduate aviation majors as well. The first students will begin training in the fall of this year – the US Army will cover the cost of the tuition, books and related flight lab fees for the ROTC cadets. Training will take place at the Delaware Airpark near Cheswold.
Additional information from DSU:
“The establishment of your Helicopter Flight Training Program is not only a momentous moment for the University, but it signifies a new avenue of opportunity for future aviators across the nation,” said Brig. Gen. Azubuike in her address at the media event. “This flight program is just the start in a national movement to create additional opportunities at Historically Black College and Universities across the country.”
The University Aviation Director added that after the first cohort, the helicopter flight training will be an option for regular undergraduate aviation students. “This makes Delaware State University the first one currently only HBCU with an Aviation Program to offer helicopter flight training,” Lt. Col Hales said.
Ascent Aero – an aviation company based in Medford, N.J. – has been contracted by the University to provide the training at the Delaware Airpark near Cheswold, Del., with the company’s Cabri G2 Helicopters. As part of the agreement, the university will establish several new helicopter pads at the Airpark for takeoff and landing purposes.
Similar to the profession pilot training for planes, helicopter trainees will be able to earn certifications for Private Pilot, Instrumentation Rating, Commercial and Instructor Ratings prior to graduation.
The institution’s involvement in aviation began in the 1939 with a Civilian Pilot Training Program. The then-State College for Colored Students was one of six Historically Black Colleges and University that initiated flight training for African American. In 1940, the U.S. Government consolidated that program at the Tuskegee Army Air Field, where pilots and the support personnel gained great fame as the “Tuskegee Airmen.”
The current Aviation Program at Delaware State University was launched 1987 under the leadership of then-Delaware State College President William B. DeLauder and its founding director Daniel E. Coons (the namesake for the currently Aviation Program hanger facility).
After operating with an older fleet of planes during its first 30 year of the existence, the State of Delaware provided a $3.4 million grant from its Delaware Higher Education Economic Development Fund for the purchase of 10 then-new Vulcanair V1.O single-engine aircraft.
The University recently augmented its fleet with the purchase of three Piper Warriors and one Piper Arrow single engine planes, bringing its total fleet to 26 aircraft – more than any other HBCU aviation program.
Over the years, the University’s Aviation Program has been a major supplier of pilots of color to the nation’s commercial airlines and military branches.
