Textron’s TRU Simulation + Training plans to open a new maintenance technician training facility at Textron Aviation’s Wichita Mid-Continent Airport campus. The facility will start with maintenance training for in-production Beechcraft airplanes in January 2016, followed by training for current-production Cessna models a year later. Training will be provided on “a combination of actual aircraft and TRU Simulation + Training maintenance trainers,” according to the company.
Courses will range from avionics initial theory to engine run and taxi, and training will be conducted on Beechcraft and Cessna airplanes and simulators built by TRU. The renovated training center in building C14—formerly home to the Cessna International Training Academy—will include classrooms and a hangar on the Textron Aviation flightline.
While TRU’s AAI acquisition has supported military maintenance training at customer facilities, the Wichita center will be the company’s first commercial maintenance training facility. TRU will develop the courseware and instructional materials, as well as system trainers for engines, landing gear and avionics, among others. “The final mix will be determined by customers' needs,” a TRU spokeswoman told AIN.
