Graham Warwick/ATLANTA
UND AEROSPACE is to provide all factory-authorised flight and maintenance training for McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems' (MDHS) civil aircraft. UND has ordered an MD500E, MD600N and MD Explorer from MDHS for use in the programme, and the aviation-education arm of the University of North Dakota will establish a training centre at Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona, near the MDHS factory.
Training is scheduled to begin by the first quarter of 1997. UND will provide transition and recurrent training for pilots and maintenance personnel on MD500-series civil helicopters, and on the tail-rotorless MD520N, MD600N and MD Explorer. MDHS hopes to expand the training to include specialised courses in confined-area and mountain flying.
UND has taken options on a further nine MD500Es. The Grand Forks, North Dakota-based organisation also provides factory-authorised training on Schweizer helicopters and trains pilots for some US services pilots.
Source: Flight International
