College of Aeronautics Showcase in Evans Library

Evans Library is culminating a three-year project to highlight all of the colleges that make up Florida Tech. Each college exhibit stays up for about a semester at a time, with the spring semester’s exhibit usually remaining into the summer semester.

The final college in the rotation is the College of Aeronautics (COA), my personal favorite of course. The entry area of the first floor and reception desk is decorated with trimmings of aircraft models and timeline banners of important dates and facts.  As a main focal piece, there is a full cockpit flight simulator used for authentic flight training.

Shipped in from our flight line FIT Aviation, the simulator is a full cockpit mockup of a Piper Seneca aircraft, similar to the Piper Seminole used in daily training operations at the flight line for multi-engine flight students. The simulator is open to anyone and everyone who wants to test their mettle as pilots. Of all the exhibits showcasing the COA, the flight simulator is the most popular. With model planes in every corner and video clips playing on flat screens, the entryway of the library transforms into a space age classroom. Compared to the other showcases, COA’s has garnered the most interest from students, staff and faculty. The staff of Evan’s Library also noticed that students are bringing their friends and family to the exhibit simulator.

Evans Librarian and late night supervisor Ilona Mueller noted that those visiting the school for tours, Botanical Garden visits, and those just passing through, find the exhibit extremely fascinating. “Space and aeronautics always bring out the imagination in people,” says Mueller,” even the older generations that wander in from [other events on campus]”. Even I, as a flight student with over 250 hours of flight time, find it fun to fly the simulator. With a COA student helping direct first-time flyers, anybody can learn to fly with just a few minutes acclimation to the simulator. Stop on by!