New helicopter and flight compartment carry SAIT students to new heights

When aviation programming started at SAIT in 1930, flying was still new and exciting. It had only been seven years since the first nonstop flight across the United States and 27 years since the Wright Brothers first took to the skies. 

That first year, SAIT had eight full-time students enrolled in Aeronautics. As the modern era of aviation began to grow in Canada and across the world, SAIT was there to meet the needs of this new and exciting industry.

SAIT’s programming has kept pace with the ever-changing technological landscape of aviation, largely due to donors' generosity. On Tuesday, Oct. 3, SAIT celebrated two gifts made to the School of Transportation at the Art Smith Aero Centre — a 1975 Bell 206 MSN 1682 Helicopter from Eagle Copters and a Jetstream 41 aircraft flight compartment from Marty Abbott, a former Royal Canadian Air Force pilot.

“We are thrilled to celebrate our close industry partnerships that make SAIT graduates the most sought-after aviation maintenance graduates in western Canada,” says Lynda Holden, Dean, School of Transportation at SAIT. “We are training the next generation of leaders, thinkers and doers to be industry-ready professionals who keep our economy moving forward.”

 

Thanks to the generosity of Mr. Abbott and Eagle Copters, SAIT students have the chance to get their hands on the equipment and tools they will use every day in industry.

“To have these aircraft and get a small taste of what our jobs will be like is especially motivating,” shares Mckynna Furgala, a first-year Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Technology student at SAIT.

These donations enhance hands-on learning for students, support innovative, future-focused aviation training, and continues the near-hundred-year legacy of providing exceptional aviation training at SAIT.

Learn more about how SAIT’s donors make an impact and find out how you can get involved to support students at SAIT.