HAI/JEN BOYER
TRAINING THE MODERN HELICOPTER AMT continued
time taught her that she wanted to know more about how aircraft worked. Wolf joined SUU’s AMT program in the summer of 2021. Now in her second semester, she is happy with her decision. “I really like it here, and I love what I’m
learning,” she says. “It gives me a different point of view versus what I was seeing as a pilot. And I’m really fascinated with helicopters now. I plan on working in helicopter maintenance at least for a few years. Maybe I’ll go back to flight school. My dream job is to be a helicopter pilot.”
In addition to what she’s learning, Wolf is
equally impressed by the culture at SUU. A young female in a traditionally male-dominated field, she knew she could face feeling like an outsider. Tat hasn’t been the case at all. “It feels more like a family here than school,”
she explains. “A lot of my fellow students are veterans. Tey have a lot of experience and have been out of high school longer than me. Tey help each other out and help me. “We all meet for study groups. Everyone
treats each other the same, even the instructors, regardless of how much aviation or even life
experiences we have,” Wolf adds. Like many other women entering aviation,
Wolf has also found valuable networking and support services through Women in Aviation International (WAI). Te local chapter, the SSU T-Birds, provides study groups for both flight and maintenance students.
Planning for Growth In addition to adding the bachelor’s degree in aviation administration and leadership, SUU is working to expand its offerings for AMTs in two additional areas. SUU’s aviation and engineering departments
are working together to create an avionics and electronics emphasis for the AMT program. Expected to be launched in the spring of 2023, this emphasis will work much like the airframe and powerplant emphases, running as a two-semester cluster of courses that prepares mechanics to receive their license to maintain and repair specialized avionics and electronics systems. “We heard from industry partners that as
aviation moves toward a more digitized and electronic age, the demand for mechanics who
can perform and sign off on their own avionics work grows,” Britt says. “By providing our students with a choice of emphases in their program, we help them specialize and become highly marketable. “Our avionics emphasis is unique, as it’s tied
to our engineering department. Several of the courses are advanced electrical engineering, which gives students a more solid understanding of circuitry and electrical systems,” he adds. “Teaching avionics and advanced electronics together provides a more valuable foundation for today’s advanced aviation systems.” SUU has also begun to develop an advanced
manufacturing emphasis, which will focus on composites. Te school is in the process of designing the curriculum and planning for equipment acquisition, including an autoclave, to support this emphasis. Future students in SUU’s AMT associate’s
program will be able to pair any of these emphases to their airframe licenses during the 18-month program. Current A&P mechanics can also enroll for two semesters per emphasis to earn additional aviation maintenance licenses.
SUU has been fortunate to receive a number of airframe donations, allowing the program to provide rounded instruction in helicopter maintenance. 34 ROTOR DECEMBER 2021
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