Aviation Centre of Excellence

Infobox_Education in Canada
name = Confederation College - School of Aviation


imagesize= 300px
established = 2003
faculty = 28
principal = Brian Ktytor, Dean
enrollment = 250-300
streetaddress = 2003 Derek Burney Drive
city = Thunder Bay
province = Ontario
country = Canada
colours = Blue and white
url = http://www.confederationc.on.ca/ace

Confederation College, which opened its doors in 1967, offered both the Aircraft Maintenance and Aviation Flight Management programs at the Thunder Bay International Airport since the late 1960s, however they were located at separate hangars. The flight program was located at the Moffat Hangar on the Airport's air side. The maintenance program was located at a larger hangar closer to the airport terminal. The Aerospace Manufacturing program was run from Confederation's main campus.

In the late 1990s, the college decided it would be beneficial to locate all three programs in one larger facility. The idea was to combine the School of Aviation into one cohesive unit, where students from all three programs would have access to new equipment and facilities, and could get an idea of what the other aviation careers were about.

Derek Burney, then the CEO and President of CAE, and a former resident of Thunder Bay played a large part in the development of the aviation centre, with funding and simulators delivered to the college.

Air Canada donated one of its retired DC-9 aircraft which arrived for the grand opening celebrations. The Aircraft landed with Confederation College emblems in addition to the Air Canada tail paint.

Construction of ACE began in 2002, and the building was completed in time for 2003 classes.

Campus

The Aviation Centre of Excellence, or ACE, is the aviation department facility for Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The 59,000 square foot state-of-the-art building comprises two large hangars, classrooms, shops, labs, and offices for the three aviation programs at the School of Aviation.

Location

The Aviation Centre of Excellence is located at Thunder Bay International Airport, the third busiest airport in the province of Ontario. The structure is located on the north side of runway 25 and adjacent to the NAC Air Hangar. The centre has its own apron and taxiway to the runway.

Programs

There are three full time post-secondary programs at ACE.
* Aerospace Manufacturing Engineering Technology
* Aviation Technician-Aircraft Maintenance
* Aviation Flight ManagementThe unofficial slogan of the Aviation Centre is "Build it, Fly it, Maintain it", relating to the three respective programs. ACE is also home to computer training for companies such as Bombardier. In addition, the school runs several aviation camps for youth interested in aviation. ACE regularly hosts the world renowned Canadian Forces Snowbirds, and one of the Snowbird pilots is a graduate of the flight program.

Fleet

ACE has a fleet of fifteen aircraft used for flight training; consisting of four styles of Cessna planes. In addition the school has two advanced flight training devices (or non-motion simulators). One is a level 6 Frasca Beech Baron trainer, and the other is a level 2 generic trainer.

In addition there is a sizeable fleet of non-flying aircraft at ACE that is used by the Aircraft Maintenance program. This includes:
* McDonnell Douglas DC-9
* Bell 206 Helicopter
* OH-58 Kiowa
* Bell 47 Helicopter
* 4 Cessna 180
* Piper Apache
* Cessna 172

The Aviation Centre of Excellence is considered to be one of the top Aviation schools in Canada. Many graduates have gone on to successful and often notable careers with the Canadian Forces, Air Canada, Boeing, and Airbus. Among a long list of graduates is one of the designers on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Notable Alumni

* Doug Clement, Major- Canadian Forces CF-18 Hornet pilot-Has flown in Air shows across Canada and worldwide
* Mike Baschak, Design Team Member- Boeing 787-Helped design Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner