New planes will help program take off

Three new Piper airplanes will modernize and expand Farmingdale State College's aviation program, school officials said Thursday at a ceremony at Republic Airport.

The future is slightly delayed, though, with the single-engine planes -- their cockpits equipped with the latest in digital displays -- still in Vero Beach, Fla., awaiting safety checks and paint jobs.

"This is a perfect example of how we can match graduates to high-demand business sectors," said State University of New York Chancellor Nancy Zimpher. The purchase grows Farmingdale's fleet to 22 aircraft, allowing what officials described as the largest aviation school in the Northeast, with 160 students, to admit more students and give them more flying time.

Student flight-training fees will pay for the almost $1-million price tag, Zimpher said. "As bad as it is, and as many cuts as we've taken, we can still grow programs that pay for themselves and grow the economy," she said. "When everybody is throwing up their hands, we have figured out a way to do this."

Hundreds of students from the program's pilot track have gone on to fly for the military or in commercial aviation. Starting a career path that often begins with a job as a flight instructor, earning about $20 an hour, graduates can progress to jobs with regional airlines and then the so-called "majors," where experienced captains can earn well into six figures per year.

Kemoy Allen, 22, a senior in the pilot track who grew up watching his stepfather fix planes, will take off as a pilot next year.

The job market for young pilots isn't great but companies are hiring, he said, and familiarity with the newest technology doesn't hurt. "It brings a lot more to table," he said. "You're learning what you're going to be using in the majors, so when you're in majors, it's like second nature."

Aviation program director Mike Hughes is flying down to Florida to make the safety checks Friday; if all goes well, he and a handful of the program's flight instructors will fly them up in the next couple of days. It's about a 12-hour trip, he said, allowing for two refueling stops. Training flights out of Republic Airport should begin within a week.