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Aeronautical Institute Lands $1M from NASA

Learn more at Plattsburgh Aeronautical Institute

The Plattsburgh Aeronautical Institute landed $1 million in funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
 
The institute is a project of CV-TEC, a public technical school and Clinton Community College (CCC). The facility will be an Federal Aviation Administration-certified Part 147 Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) institute on the site of the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base. The Plattsburgh Aeronautical Institute is being built in anticipation of expanding regional and statewide needs for aeronautical training and development. The school is scheduled to open in the fall of 2007.
 
Laurentian Aerospace recently announced it will open a $64 million maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operation at the Plattsburgh International Airport that will create 800 jobs in the next five years. Another 800 aerospace related jobs are projected to be created by suppliers and support services likely to locate near the new MRO center.
 
CV-TEC President Dr. Barry Mack said the institute now has a connection with NASA that will be beneficial in the future. The money will go towards curriculum development, computer systems and aeronautical tools.
 
The institute has obtained a T-39 Sabreliner from the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tuscon, Ariz.; an F-16 jet engine from the Vermont Air National Guard; two Huey helicopters, a Huey helicopter engine and an aircraft towbar from the Vermont Army National Guard; eight Huey helicopter rotor blades from the Atmospheric Science Research Center; a Douglas DC-3 aircraft and a Fouga Jet Fighter from CommutAir; and two sets of Huey ground handling wheels from Brackett Aircraft Company.

In addition to the NASA funding, The Plattsburgh Aeronautical Institute has secured more than $2.4 million in state and federal appropriations. Clinton County has donated $16 million in property leases while the business community has contributed $3 million in goods, services and labor.
 
"This is exactly the kind of partnership I like to see. I am delighted to see this working relationship,” said U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton.

The institute has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Ecole Nationale d'Aeronatique, an aeronautical school with 1,600 students located just across the Canadian in St. Hubert, Quebec.