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-Press Release, Vance-Granville Community College
Vance-Granville Community College is introducing new opportunities for education and training in the Aviation field – covering both manned and unmanned flights. VGCC is partnering with Total Flight Solutions, an aviation company with a location at Triangle North Executive Airport in Louisburg, to offer these classes.
The first courses being offered by VGCC will provide training to help people fly Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly called “drones.”
The 16-hour UAV Pilot Training Course will be held on two Saturdays, August 22 and August 29, 2020, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. each day at the airport in Louisburg. Students will receive hands-on instruction on how to control a drone and prepare to become a UAV operator. The cost of the course is $71.25.
“This ‘flight school’ consists of a four-hour discussion of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight rules for UAVs/drones, and 12 hours of flying drones and observing drones in flight,” explained Keith Shearon, Director of Customized Training for VGCC. “This is about learning to fly, including a thorough understanding of how the remote control works. It’s an excellent course for folks who haven’t yet bought a drone, or for those who have recently purchased a drone and need some guidance.” Shearon added that for training, students will use GPS-enabled drones that are owned by the college.
In conjunction with these flight classes, VGCC will then offer the 25-hour “FAA Part 107 Exam Preparation” course for the first time on September 17-19, for students wishing to obtain the license required for commercial operation. All but the very smallest drones require a license to fly, and all commercial-use drones require this license. Like the pilot training, the exam-prep course is taught by professionals from Total Flight Solutions. The cost of this course is $133.25, which does not include the actual examination fee.
VGCC and Total Flight Solutions are also preparing to offer a Commercial Pilot Ground School later in the year. Completing this course is the first step in preparing for a rewarding, lucrative career as a commercial pilot for manned vehicles.
For more information on Aviation at VGCC, visit www.vgcc.edu/coned/aviation or contact Keith Shearon at shearonj@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3433.
