South’s Aviation Program Acquires Lancair Aircraft
South Seattle College’s Aeronautical Technology program will introduce a new experimental aircraft to its fleet of training aircrafts this month. The Lancair IV/P will join the program’s seven planes and one helicopter on campus, and the five planes and one helicopter currently housed at Boeing Field (King County Airport).
South first applied to receive the Lancair IV/P in October 2016, after it was announced that three aircrafts modified for the US Airforce by The Boeing Company were available as surplus. Originally valued at $1.96 million, today the Lancair IV/P is valued at $450,800. South was initially approved for the plane, and after a seven month waiting period, the aircraft was awarded to the college in April. The plane is currently being stored while the existing fleet is rearranged in South Seattle College hangar.
Students enrolled in South’s Aviation Maintenance Technology (AMT) and Aerospace Composites Technology programs will both benefit from the addition of this aircraft, which contains nearly every system found on a modern jet. At just 25 feet long and with a 35 foot wingspan, the small ground-operational turbo-propeller Lancair will improve and upgrade all aspects of instruction, adding a fully operational turbo-propeller engine and propeller combination, cabin pressurization, a Global Positioning Satellite system, retractable landing gear, a modern, fully composite airframe structure, crew oxygen system, integrated autopilot system and a full operating instrumentation system. The Lancair joins the program’s newly acquired Learjet, which was added to the college’s fleet in October 2015.
South’s Aeronautical Technology program, one of the longest-running and largest FAA-approved Aviation Maintenance Technician Programs in the state, can prepare you with the skills needed to succeed in Washington’s growing aviation industry.
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