January 17, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) will take delivery of two more Diamond aircraft this year.
Rector of the College, Capt. Alkali Moddibo, who disclosed the plan during the training of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) in Zaria recently, said that Diamond aircraft will be equipped with double and single engine.
The Aviation College is currently using Diamond, Tampicos and Beech Baron 58 aircraft types. Already seven of the Diamond aircraft had been supplied in 2020.
With about 20 serviceable aircraft, Capt Modibbo assured that the equipment NCAT has, are enough to train students at any given time.
Emphasising the unique advantage of Diamond aircraft, the Rector said “Like I said earlier, we intend to take delivery of more airplanes this year. We will take one in February and another in April. The Diamonds will be about 15 in all. They are advanced cockpit; we have the latest technology that you can find in any machine in it and it uses Jet A1, which is cheaper than the Aviation Gas (AvGas). Aviation gas is not easy to come by, we have to import it into Nigeria and that is what the Tampicos are using”.
“It will gladden me to tell you that we are moving another step higher. We are thinking of getting Magnus, which is another airplane that is manufactured in Hungary. We have been to their factory with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Ministry of Aviation. We conducted our technical inspection; sooner or later, we will start to have those machines here”.
“The advantages of those machines are that; one, it is made from carbon fibre, very light and it uses Premium Motoring Spirit (PMS) like the one you use in your car. So, from AvGas, we went down to Jet A1 and we are also going into PMS. It is going to be less expensive to run with that aircraft”.
“Something unique about that aircraft is that it has a parachute of its own. If you lose an engine, there is a parachute that you will pull and the engine will come out and the pilot will be able to land the aircraft with that parachute. With this, you have saved a life and the equipment. The parachute is there for you in case you lose an engine and the aircraft has only one engine”, the Rector added.
According to the Rector, there are about six foreign students being trained in the College while more foreign students are expected from Niamey, Niger to the school very soon.
He however, pointed out that, though, it is expensive for students outside Nigeria to enroll at NCAT, the College still encourages students to come also.
“When you want to be a pilot, you will need about $50,000, but for Nigerians, we have serious subsidy for pilots and engineers, but we still encourage foreigners to come also.”
On what the school is doing to address the issue of ageing workforce in the institution, Capt Modibbo explained, “This is why we are here, we keep bringing in younger personnel and it is a continuous process. We keep bringing in younger ones to replace those who are retiring and when you are retired, we still take you on contract to impact your knowledge and the experience you have on the new generation of instructors.”
Capt Modibbo who stated that his priority this year is to try as much as possible to conduct more training locally and internationally, added that the College is equally planning to get the certification of the automatic rescue firefighting training provider certificate from the NCAA.
NCAT, which was established about 58 years ago, was upgraded to a Regional Training Centre of Excellence (RTCE) recently, while NCAA had equally endorsed it as an Approved Training Organisation (ATO).
About the Author
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
