Ever been stuck in traffic, and wish you could just fly over it? When it came time for Centennial College to assemble its fleet of airplanes at the new Bombardier Centre for Aerospace and Aviation at Downsview Campus, that’s just what we did.
Our new Downsview facility opened for classes in January, ready to admit 400 new students who will be trained to become the next generation of aerospace professionals. One of the cornerstones of the aviation education you can get at the Downsview Campus is the hands-on time you spend with real airplanes. With Downsview getting ready to open, it was time to move the precious cargo carefully by truck, since Ashtonbee Campus does not have a runway.
At the same time, the School of Transportation arranged for some newer aircraft to join the fleet, planes that it acquired from sources across North America. If they were to transport them across the border, they’d have to be taken apart and transported on trucks, and once an airplane is taken apart and reassembled, it’s never the same. It turns out that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, so the best way to get them to Downsview was simply to fly them in, which is just what we did on December 10. Eight planes in total landed at Buttonville Airport just north of Toronto, and then took to the air a second time to arrive at their new home by landing on the runway at Downsview, which is operated by our good friends at Bombardier Aerospace. Among the aircraft that flew in to join Centennial’s expanded fleet are a Cessna Citation II executive jet, a Cessna 425 twin-engine turboprop, two Piper Seneca II and four Cessna 172 single-engine light aircraft.
These airplanes make up the practical component of the programs offered at Downsview Campus, which include Aviation Technician programs offered through the School of Transportation, and Aerospace Manufacturing Engineering Technology offered through our School of Engineering Technology and Applied Science. All of these programs feature top-tier instructors who teach you how to work on components like airframes, engines, electrical and hydraulic systems, avionics equipment and instruments. And because of the hands-on time you get with these airplanes, the programs at Downsview will simulate the workplace you’ll start your career in. We took these airplanes to the skies, and we can take your career there, too!
By Anthony Geremia