Flight School Celebrates First Multi-engine Aircraft
February 22, 2022
Marshall University’s aviation program added its first multi-engine aircraft to the school’s aerial fleet.
On the morning of Friday, Feb. 18, the Bill Noe Flight School welcomed the first of many Marshall branded Piper Seminole aircrafts to the program’s hangers at West Virginia International Yeager Airport.
“We are going to fill the friendly skies with Marshall sons and daughters,” President Brad Smith said. “This is just the next milestone in a series of milestones you will see coming out of the flight school.”
The plane was flown into Yeager Airport by Bill Noe himself, Marshall’s executive aviation specialist with whom the flight school shares its name. Noe said that, compared to other flight schools throughout West Virginia, Marshal’s Aviation Program has an advantage with the introduction of these new aircrafts.
“A lot of flight schools only have single engines,” Noe said. “There is no comparison.”
Both Smith and Noe shared how the flight school is going to benefit Marshall University and West Virginia.
“The opportunity for us to give back to the community by creating job opportunities that will be a part of the 21st century—that gives our young men and women the opportunity to be a part of the exciting aviation energy,” Smith said.
Noe added on to this by saying, “As our students progress through the school, they will be able to become certified flight instructors.”
With the flight school going into its second year, the addition of multi-engine aircrafts allows for students and instructors to have more professional opportunities outside of the school.
“You can’t do a complete comprehensive, well-rounded instructional course unless you get up into the advanced multi-engine airplane,” Noe said. “That will also allow you to have a platform to achieve an airline transport pilot certificate, which is the most advanced certificate… It’s like a PhD in aviation.”
Once the plane landed, guests were invited into Hanger Nine at Yeager Airport for snacks and a showcase of the school’s single-engine aircrafts.
