New Heights

Moore Norman Celebrates the Opening of New Aviation Program

With the theme song from the movie “Top Gun” playing in the background, dignitaries and others gathered in an airplane hangar on the campus of Moore Norman Technology Center to celebrate the opening of its aviation maintenance center training program.

The hands-on training program, offered at the center’s Franklin Road campus, provides students with a direct path to a career in aviation and aerospace, Oklahoma’s second largest and fastest growing industry.

Glen Cosper, president of the MNTC board, was among those who spoke at the Sept. 25 ribbon cutting ceremony. He thanked current and former board members for their contributions to the program and compared it to a “Tom Brady 90-yard touchdown drive late in the game.”

“You don’t know how long it will take, you don’t know how it will happen, you don’t know how many players will be involved,” he said. “But you do know we will score, and our fans will be happy with the outcome.”

MNTC teamed with industry partners and state and local leaders to develop the training program in response to the region’s growing demand for workers who are certified by the Federal Aviation Administration in airframe and powerplant mechanics.

Sen. Paul Rosino, R-Oklahoma City, worked closely with Cosper and Lee Dow, the center’s director of aerospace and technology, to get the program off the ground two years ago. Rosino said the aerospace and aviation industry contributes approximately $44 billion annually to Oklahoma’s economy. Cleveland County, meanwhile, is home to more than 28 related companies, including 19 in Norman.

“One of my biggest concerns, as a south Oklahoma City representative, was Will Rogers (Airport) is right here, Tinker (Air Force Base) is right here, we have Max Westheimer, and Moore Norman had no aviation program,” he said. “I just couldn’t understand that.”

Rosino recognized the program’s inaugural class, which started with 17 students in August and will take 18 months to complete.

“Those students are the future of aerospace and aviation in the state of Oklahoma, and it’s starting right here in Moore Norman,” he said.

Students will learn how to conduct pre-flight inspections, perform routine aircraft maintenance, and repair airframe and powerplant (engine) components, and receive Federal Aviation Administration certification upon course completion.

“Those students are the future of aerospace and aviation in the state of Oklahoma, and it’s starting right here in Moore Norman,” Sen. Paul Rosino, R-Oklahoma City said.

Careers in the field offer starting salaries of $60,000 or more annually.

The program will not only help meet the growing workforce demand, but it will also allow many Cleveland County residents whose jobs were negatively affected by COVID-19 to receive the training they need to return to work, according to the county.

In April, county commissioners approved a request for $1 million in federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) for the training center, which includes classrooms, training labs, top-of-theline equipment, aircraft components, the hangar and a tarmac.

A red and white twin-engine Beechcraft airplane was donated to the in-person program, which will prepare students to become certified in three different areas –General Aviation, Airframe and Powerpoint.

At 56, Bret Smith is the program’s oldest student. Aviation maintenance is the latest in a series of careers Smith said include blacksmith and railroad track welder.

“So far, it’s great,” he said. “Being the industry it is, it’s held to a higher standard. The railroad was highly regulated, but this is even more regulated due to the gravity of what we are working on here.”

Things came easy in high school for Westmoore graduate Danny Garcia, 19, who took Advanced Placement courses and exams but wasn’t “a big studier.”

The aviation program presents a far greater challenge, Garcia said.

“Now I have to have good study practices,” he said. “You really have to be sure you know the material because in December, when we take the written exam for the FAA, you have to know all of this information. You can’t not know it because if you do, you’ll fail.”

In addition to the ARPA funding, various grants and Ad Valorem taxes will help pay for the program, which will expand to include high school students in 2024, according to Dow.

“Today is truly icing on the cake,” he said. “It is just fantastic what it’s going to mean to the economy, the community and the work force.”– BSM