Tulsa air school gains military training contract for Afghanistan mission
By KYLE ARNOLD World Business Writer on Aug 28, 2013, at 11:45 AM Updated on 8/28/13 at 1:43 PM
Spartan CEO Jeremy Gibson in the Spartan hangar with Tuls Mayor Dewey Bartlett in background talks about the new Air Force contract they received Wednesday in Tulsa. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
Aerospace
The first addition to the Boeing 787 family took off Tuesday from Paine Field, near the factory where the plane was assembled, to the cheers of a couple of hundred Boeing Co. employees who watched the blue and white plane with a number 9 on the tail rise into a cloudy sky.
Bombardier's CSeries aircraft completed its maiden flight Monday in a successful test run of the new narrow-body airplane.
Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology announced Wednesday that the school is getting a $12 million, five-year contract from the U.S. Air Force to provide ground and flight training for operations in Afghanistan.
At a press conference Wednesday morning at Spartan’s hangar at Jones-Riverside Airport, officials at the vocational training school said the contract will cover education on Cessna T182 and 208 aircraft. The school will also supply maintenance training on Beech King Air 350 aircrafts.
The course will train about 30 members of the Air Force annually for the next five years, Spartan President and CEO Jeremy Gibson said. The Air Force then will train members of the Afghan military, who will use the small aircraft on transport and reconnaissance missions.
Spartan had a similar contract in 2007 for the Iraq war mission.
Check back at tulsaworld.com as more information becomes available.
Aerospace
The first addition to the Boeing 787 family took off Tuesday from Paine Field, near the factory where the plane was assembled, to the cheers of a couple of hundred Boeing Co. employees who watched the blue and white plane with a number 9 on the tail rise into a cloudy sky.
Bombardier's CSeries aircraft completed its maiden flight Monday in a successful test run of the new narrow-body airplane.
