Second Flight Simulator Helps Fill Growing Demand in MSU’s Aviation Program

Aug. 25—When Minnesota State University aviation students step into the cockpit of the department's newest CRJ 700 flight simulator, it'll feel just like they're flying the passenger jet.

Once at the controls, students and their instructors will be able to see projections of almost any airport of their choosing and fly in different conditions.

This is the university's second simulator of its kind; the first was installed in 2014.

The university debuted the second simulator Friday.

Former students, such as North Star Aviation flight instructor Emily Eslinger, described the simulator — which helps train students for the airlines — as a unique experience.

"They bring in a lot of instructors that were previous CRJ captains or pilots, and they have a lot of really good insight of the career field of what we are all pretty much planning on doing," she said.

Now, as the number of students in the aviation program grows, faculty like Tom Peterson said one simulator wasn't enough to meet the demand.

"We have grown the program so large that the last several semesters we've only had the one simulator, and we couldn't accommodate all the students who wanted to do it or had to do it," Peterson said.

There are currently more than 700 students — including 240 incoming freshmen — enrolled in the aviation department.

This semester, around 60 students will train on the simulator, which serves as a capstone course that seniors usually take, Peterson said.

He added that the second simulator more than doubled how many students they can put through the course in a semester.

The course, Peterson said, is a key part of students' success in the industry.

"What we do is we introduce them to the airline way of doing things. You fly with another crew member, you have a lot of procedures," he said.

"If they've already seen it once, and they have a handle on all that, our students don't seem to have any issues going through whatever airline they go to and succeeding."

North Star Aviation funded and purchased both simulators.

Rob McGregor, general manager at North Star Aviation, said getting a second simulator installed in the department is a huge deal.

"To have a second one now, we don't have a bottleneck of students waiting to get into it anymore," he said.

David Hood, the university's provost and senior vice president of academic affairs, was among those to get behind the wheel during the simulator's debut Friday.

He said it pointed to how highly skilled pilots have to be.

He added that as they grow their numbers, the university is watching shortages in the aviation industry.

"We are really thinking strategically about how this institution can be a part of the solution," he said.

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