Delaware State University and Florida-based Ameravia, Inc. to announce the acquisition of 10 new Vulcanair V1.0 FAA certified single-engine aircraft for the DSU aviation department flight training program.
Deliveries will begin in late 2018 and the first half of 2019.
The Delaware State University Board of Trustees and administration agreed to inveset $3.5 million dollars in the Aviation Program over the next eight years.
Beginning in 2019 thru 2027, the university intends to purchase at least one additional V1.0 training aircraft each year (for a total of up to 20 airplanes), to accommodate expansion of the Aviation Program’s capacity for students majoring in the Professional Pilot degree.
The aircraft will allow students to train on the latest all-glass avionics’ cockpit technology used by airlines and in corporate aviation.
In 1939, the United States government funded and introduced the Civilian Pilot Training Act, or the CPTA. The CPTP’s purpose was to train approximately 20,000 pilots each year to prepare for the possibility of a global conflict.
In an effort to recruit as many potential pilots as possible, the program accepted African Americans and women. The CPTP gave African Americans and women opportunities in aviation. Pioneering black fliers campaigned hard for public awareness of their abilities, and their efforts paid off with an antidiscrimination rule within the CPTP — a landmark in racial equality for blacks in aviation. DSU was one of the six Historically Black Colleges chosen for this program.
In May 1940, the first student-graduates of the Civilian Pilot Training Program completed their instruction, and the program of flight training for black students at the various schools was consolidated to Moton Field near Tuskegee Institute. Moton Field gave necessary training for the candidates to continue to the Tuskegee Army Air Field to finish their flight training with the Army Air Corps and become pilots. From this point on, all the graduates of CPTP at Moton Field were commonly referred to as “Tuskegee Airmen.” The Tuskegee Airmen have one of the most famous histories of any one military unit.
In 1987 due to the vision of Dr. Daniel E. Coons, the Aviation Program was re-established at DSU.
For many of those early years, Dr. Coons spent thousands of dollars of his own money to fund student tuition, flight-training fees, countless hours of his time and efforts to help students achieve the goal of being a professional pilot.
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