As enrollment at a flight school increases, more aircraft are needed to keep up. That’s why the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) has added four more Piper Pilot 100i to its Melbourne campus.
According to Piper, the aircraft are the second delivery of the Pilot 100i this year. FIT’s fleet of 50 aircraft includes Piper Seminoles, Archers, Warriors and now the Pilot 100i.
“At Florida Tech, our students learn through hands-on experience and we can’t wait to get them in the cockpit of these state-of-the-art Piper Pilot 100is so they can start learning with our amazing flight instructors,” said John Nicklow, president of FIT, in a statement. “What makes this even more meaningful is that many of our alumni who work at Piper helped design, build and test these aircraft. It’s an outstanding example of the power of a Florida Tech education in action.”
School officials said the additional aircraft were necessary to support the growth of the program and the needs of the students.
Seventeen Florida Tech graduates currently employed at Piper Aircraft joined Florida Tech employees in celebrating the fleet expansion. The graduates work in engineering, project management, technical marketing and production flight test.
“It is an honor to continue supplying aircraft to our long-time Flight School Alliance member, Florida Tech,” said Marc Ouellet, Piper’s vice president of engineering and manufacturing. “Their program is one of the best, and we know this first-hand, as several Florida Tech graduates work in the Piper factory.”
