Kathryn Wentzel Lumley Aviation Center
The center's first courses were presented in 1993. It currently offers full Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and transport-certified repair and maintenance programs.
History
In 1991, the Pennsylvania College of Technology announced its plans to expand its aviation education facilities in response to a growing need for certified repair and maintenance training programs for current and future aviation industry employees. Construction work began on the center's new 50,000-square-foot building in 1993, which cost $6.5 million and was described as "a contemporary building with a gray metallic and red exterior and a red, black and white interior decor." Dedicated on June 25, 1993, during a ceremony that included addresses by college president Robert Breuder and Kathryn Wentzel Lumley, a member of the college's board of directors and co-founder of the nationwide literacy improvement program, Reading Is Fundamental, the new building featured avionics and composite materials laboratories, an "engine demonstration area" with "remote control video cameras," an 11,000-square-foot hangar, and a sheet metal shop, making it the"one of the largest and most advanced aviation instructional facilities in the Northeast."
In 2000, Dr. Francis M. Powers Jr. and William T. Castle donated a "single-engine, retractable-gear, Velocity airplane" for instructional use. Built in 1994, using composite materials, the plane had just eighty-five hours of flying time when it was acquired by the college, and was valued at $137,000.
In 2007, the private college's aviation center was renamed as the Kathryn Wentzel Lumley Aviation Center, in honor of Kathryn W. Lumley.
FedEx Express subsequently donated a Boeing 727 to the university in 2010. The center currently offers training in the repair and maintenance of that Boeing 727, as well as two Cessna 172s.
See also
References
- ^ Hilliard, David. "Students chart new course." Sunbury, Pennsylvania: The Daily Item, April 4, 1993, p. E1 (subscription required).
- ^ "Kathryn Wentzel Lumley Aviation Center - Penn Tech". PCT.edu. 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- ^ "Penn College becomes 4-year school." Sunbury, Pennsylvania: The Daily Item, August 19, 1992, p. 5A (subscription required).
- ^ "Kathryn Wentzel Lumley Aviation Center - Penn Tech". PCT.edu. 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- ^ Hilliard, "Students chart new course," The Daily Item, April 4, 1993.
- ^ "Penn College to dedicate $6.5 million aviation center." Sunbury, Pennsylvania: The Daily Item, June 24, 1993, p. 7 (subscription required).
- ^ Beauge, John. "Tech college chief high on aviation center." Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The Evening News, January 18, 1993, Midstate Business, p. 3 (subscription required).
- ^ "Penn College receives $137G, single-engine, 1994 airplane." Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania: Press Enterprise, August 25, 2000, p. 9 (subscription required).
- ^ Hilliard, "Students chart new course," The Daily Item, April 4, 1993.
- ^ "Kathryn W. Lumley," in "Newsmakers." Sunbury, Pennsylvania: The Daily Item, April 28, 2002, p. C4 (subscription required).