May 14—Marshall University's Bill Noe Flight School will soon begin providing students instruction in rotary aircraft flight after taking delivery of an Airbus H-125 single-engine turbine helicopter on Monday.
After a showy approach to a landing zone on the apron of the flight school's hangar at West Virginia International Yeager Airport, the new helicopter, co-piloted by Noe and carrying MU President Brad Smith and Herd mascot Marco, touched down to the cheers of more than 100 onlookers.
"We'll be using it for training starting next week. This summer, we will be using it for promotional as well as training purposes," Nancy Ritter, chief of Marshall's aviation department, said of the new helicopter, which is painted in MU colors, with the tagline "Go Herd!" emblazoned on its tail.
Training on the aircraft will be available to prospective pilots in government and industry as well as traditional college students, Ritter said.
Also new at the MU flight school is an Airbus-Loft Dynamics H-125 flight simulator, the first of its kind certified for use with virtual reality headsets.
The six-passenger aircraft, which retails for about $3 million, according to Business Jet Traveler, was made possible for use at the MU flight school through partnerships with Airbus, the state of West Virginia and several private donors, Ritter said.
Plans to bring a smaller, midsize helicopter to the flight school are in the works, she said.
Rick Steelhammer is a features reporter. He can be reached at 304-348-5169 or [email protected]. Follow @rsteelhammer on Twitter.
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