Century Aviation Donated Equipment

Article by KPC Media | KPC News | January 23, 2019 

FORT WAYNE — Lara and Tony Gaerte, owners of Century Aviation in Auburn, are donating avionics equipment and manuals to the Ivy Tech Foundation for the College’s Aviation Maintenance Technology program.

The donated items will arrive at the college in January and will be used in the program beginning in the spring 2019 semester.

The donation was appraised at $55,000 and includes a library of approximately 1,000 paper and digital aviation manuals, electronic test equipment, aircraft spare parts and other avionic tools and accessories.

“We’re grateful to accept this donation from Century Aviation, which will enable us to bolster our current electronics instruction,” said Michael Clouse, program chair of Aviation Maintenance Technology. “Aviation electronics become more sophisticated every year, so we need to expand our current electrical, electronic and avionics training to help meet FAA mandates. This donation will help our students enter the job market more prepared for the aviation electronics of today.”

The Aviation Maintenance Technology program prepares students for taking the Federal Aviation Administration licensing exam. Ivy Tech Fort Wayne currently boasts a 94 percent pass rate, but according to Clouse, the areas of opportunity are in electronics. The equipment and manuals from Century Aviation will improve electronics instruction and directly impact Aviation student success.

“Tony and I are happy to contribute to Ivy Tech’s Aviation Maintenance Technology program, and we’re glad that the equipment will be put to good use in our local community — paying it forward, so to speak, for the future of aviation in Fort Wayne,” said Lara Gaerte. “We hope that students in the program find it advantageous to get hands-on experience working with actual avionics equipment used in the aviation industry today.”

Article source: https://www.kpcnews.com/thestar/article_79ff8879-73ff-5104-97a7-d4144e78381b.html