Flights of fancy

Aviation program at Bridgewater State College is taking off

For Ashley Gordon, the coolest classroom at Bridgewater State College is a thousand feet above it.

"It's the best major on campus," said Gordon, 20, a junior in the college's aviation program as she readied to fly from New Bedford Airport and explore the skies over Southeastern Massachusetts one afternoon.

Bridgewater State College has had an aviation program for 30 years, but starting this year, is able to offer in-flight training for the first time. The college received Federal Aviation Administration flight certification in December, and kicked off training last month.

In the past, students took ground-school training at the college but had to line up their own flight training. Now, Bridgewater State, with its own instructors, is a one-stop flying shop, with the college leasing eight new red-and-white Quartz Mountain Aerospace 11Es and a pair of Piper Arrows.

"It's a full-time commitment to the college and a full-time commitment to the flight line," said Frank Sargent, associate dean of the college's business school, who worked to get FAA certification for the aviation program.

Over the last six years, enrollment in the Bridgewater State aviation pro gram has fluctuated from 140 to 200 students. Under a partnership with Delta Connection Academy, enrollment grew 15 percent a year, but when the flight school left in 2007, Sargent said, "We weren't sure which direction we were going in. We weren't sure we'd have a flight school."

Going into this year's program, there were 187 students, Sargent said.

Students in the college program attend school for four years, working toward a bachelor of science degree (required for airline pilots), with two majors within that field: flight training or aviation management. Under flight training, after accruing enough hours and passing tests, students get their private, instrument, commercial, and flight instructor licenses.

The cost of a four-year aviation education with flight training is roughly $90,000, according to Sargent. Financial aid is available for both tuition and flight training, he said. The cost for flight training is below what is typically charged elsewhere, but comparable with what students get at industry leaders such as Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida.

Bridgewater State always helped students find flight training, most recently through the Delta Connection Academy out of New Bedford. Delta pulled out of the program in August 2007 due to financial constraints, but Sargent was already pushing to get FAA certification for the college so that students wouldn't have to go searching for flight training.

"Getting this has been one of the greatest experiences of my career," said Sargent, a former Marine pilot who has been with Bridgewater State since 2000. "I see the excitement in the students in the program. It's in our best interest to provide the best education we can possibly provide, and being able to manage flight training and overall educational performance and provide guidance, is very important."

Loren Herren, chief flight and ground instructor for the Bridgewater program, was assistant chief manager for Delta Connection when it provided flight training. Herren always thought he wanted to be an airline pilot, but the more he got into flight training, "the more I liked it. This is the ideal fit for me, personally and professionally."

The flight school is housed in a building that many years ago had been a plumbing school, Sargent said, a one-story brick structure at a far end of New Bedford Airport. Though some ground school is taught here, the bulk of it is taught at the college campus in Bridgewater. The New Bedford building was renovated for the college's use starting in June of last year, as the college was in the FAA certification process for flight training.

Dana Mohler-Faria, president of Bridgewater State, "found funding for the program," Sargent said. "He was very supportive of it."

Now that the college has its own aircraft and instructors, Sargent said, "we know from beginning to end exactly what we're producing and sending off into the industry."

In the flight preparation room, instructor Joseph Sturgess, a senior in the program who is certified to teach, worked with Gordon to plot their short instructional flight.

Gordon, a native of Clinton, would like to fly for Cape Air after she graduates. She chose Bridgewater over other flight schools for practical reasons. "It's different weather here, it's not perfect like Florida. It's a lot more challenging to fly here," she said.

Gordon already has her private, instrument, and commercial licenses, and is now working on her instructor's license.

Sturgess said many aviation doors are open for him once he gets out of college. He's not sure yet which direction he will take, but said flying military aircraft has its appeal - his father was a Marine pilot.

As Sturgess, the instructor, and Gordon, the student, flew in the clear, cold winter sky around Southeastern Massachusetts recently to chalk up some instructional flight time, they pointed out various landmarks to the reporter and photographer on board. They coasted over ponds in Lakeville, flew above their academic home of Bridgewater State College, then finally curled back toward New Bedford.

"This is a class," Gordon said, referring to her blue-sky learning environment. "To come here and go flying."