Three Aviation Program Options At Centennial College Offer Practical Training

Taking to the skies in a plane can be very exciting for both the pilots who fly and the aviation and avionics mechanics who ensure that the plane is safe and ready for flight. However, before they can enter the field, all three of these professionals must attend a post-secondary aviation program that caters to their particular area of interest.

Centennial College’s School of Transportation offers three specific aviation programs: Aviation Technician – Aircraft Maintenance, Aviation Technician – Avionics Maintenance and Professional Pilot Training. All of these aviation programs are facilitated from the School’s Ashtonbee Campus, which is actually Canada’s largest transportation training centre. Part of this location is a fully functional aircraft hangar, licensed by Transport Canada and complete with a “fleet” of 10 aircraft that are used as training aids by the pilot, aircraft technician and avionics technician students. Students also have access to tools of the trade and are taught by experienced faculty members. Let’s take a look at all three aviation programs offered at Centennial College.

Professional Pilot Training is a program that prepares students to become commercial airplane pilots, private aircraft pilots and flight instructors. Offered in collaboration with Durham Flight Centre (where students obtain flight practice), this aviation program consists of three phases and 530-hours (200 hours of flight experience and 330 hours of ground school).  Students in this program have the opportunity to pilot Cessna 150, 172 and Piper Aztec aircraft.

Meanwhile, Centennial College’s other aviation programs focus on mechanics. The first aviation program in this area is Aviation Technician – Avionics Maintenance. Completed in two years, it focuses on the aircraft’s various electronic systems are examined, including: electrical power distribution and control, navigation, flight instrumentation, communication and radar. As a result of training, students obtain skills from basic electronics to sophisticated avionic systems used in modern aircraft.

The other such aviation program is Aviation Technician – Aircraft Maintenance program. Also taking two years to complete, it emphasizes the repair of a wide range of electrical and mechanical systems within an aircraft, including: hydraulics, fuels, environmental systems, engines, surface controls and undercarriage systems, and the aircraft’s frame and external skin. Aviation maintenance servicing practices and procedures as well as aviation regulation requirements, round out training.

Both of these mechanic-focused aviation programs are approved by Transport Canada approved and certified by the Canadian Aviation Maintenance Council as a recognized aircraft maintenance-training programs. Graduates these avionics programs work in many areas of the industry including: manufacturers, airlines, aircraft, electronic and avionics maintenance companies; and other Canadian aviation operations.