Training of Black Hawk helicopter pilots and mechanics recently reached its 10-year anniversary at Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky Training Academy (STA). Launched in 2014, STA has trained more than 1,600 students from more than 16 countries. STA has become known for its hands-on training approach (see image above) for commercial and military customers, combining deep knowledge and experience with helicopters and access to the latest aircraft technologies.
STA manager Paul Warren observed, “When I look back from when we first started, it’s hard to believe what we’ve accomplished here. The combined years of experience of our staff is the foundation of what we built here. And now that experience coupled with state-of-the-art technology continues to provide world-class training that spans the globe.”
Now operating from Gwinn Airport (Jupiter, Fla.), which is owned and operated by Sikorsky, STA students have access to at 150-ft.-wide, 7,000-ft.-long runway for flight testing and training emergency landing maneuvers. A confined landing area supports low-level and terrain flight training for both day and night-vision situations for all branches of the military. Gwinn also offers Instrument Landing System (ILS) and local radar-controlled flight-following services certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The STA curriculum contains material on radio communications for crew chiefs as well as maintenance courses on topics such as EMI/ESD control that have relevance to communications equipment.
As Warren notes, the STA is committed to replacing its paper-based curriculum with digital educational tools, such as student-issued iPads for course notes. He said, “Adding digital classrooms and iPads to our already successful hands-on training approach brings our training to the next level. This approach is a proven success and has been echoed by our customers’ positive feedback.”
The STA is on pace to graduate more students in 2024 than any previous year.