Skyhawks land at LU


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SOA receives 10,000th Cessna

The Cessna Aircraft Company reached a milestone when it delivered its 10,000th single engine aircraft, a Cessna Skyhawk, to Liberty University Aug. 28.

The aircraft, along with two other Skyhawks, was delivered from the Textron Aviation Independence Facility, which made its first delivery in June 1996. According to the Cessna website, the Skyhawk has the reputation of being the safest aircraft available and more Skyhawks have been built than any other aircraft.

Skyhawk — The 10,000th Cessna aircraft was given a new home at Freedom Aviation. Photo credit: Leah Seavers

Skyhawk — The 10,000th Cessna aircraft was given a new home at Freedom Aviation. Photo credit: Leah Seavers

“It is our primary training aircraft and the primary training aircraft that Cessna produces,” Dave Young, president of Freedom Aviation and dean for Liberty University’s School of Aeronautics, said. “We’ve had a relationship with Cessna for a long time and we’ve used Cessna products since the beginning of our program.

Our formal relationship began when we purchased Falwell Aviation in 2010.”

According to Young, the delivery of the Skyhawks is significant because it shows that Cessna sees a lot of potential in Liberty’s School of Aeronautics and its students.

“The Cessna corporation recognizes Liberty University’s School of Aeronautics as one of the premier collegiate flight training programs and they selected us over other universities,” Young said. “They are selling airplanes to universities, Russia, China, to the Civil Air Patrol — you name it. And they selected us to be the ones to receive that 10,000th airplane.”

Since its inception in 2002, the School of Aeronautics has grown from four students to more than 800. According to Liberty’s website, it is now partnering with Cessna to provide online degrees nationwide through qualified Cessna Pilot Centers.

“We’re just going to continue to grow,” James Ballou, a junior aviation student, said. “We’ve gone from having a couple of planes to having a pretty large fleet. I think it’s just pretty cool how much God has been blessing the aviation program.”

Ballou believes that Liberty’s relationship with Textron Aviation will only grow stronger due to the increase in Liberty aviation students.

“There is a demand for certain skill sets, pilots, mechanics and other aviation-related skills,” Young said. “And so, from a business perspective, this is a grand opportunity for a city like Lynchburg to really capitalize on that market by partnering with LU. The growth potential is incredible leading to economic development and job creation. When there is a partnership between the collaborative parties, tremendous things can be accomplished.”

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