HICKORY, N.C. — The Catawba Valley Community College is hoping to train the next generation of aviators at a new museum set to open this spring.
Hickory city leaders say this will be a huge attraction for the city. The community college president believes as many as 500-1000 students will attend classes at the school.
It’s moving day for planes such as a F-14 Tomcat at the Hickory Regional Airport. It will be the first of nearly two dozen aircrafts at the new Hickory Aviation Museum in just a few weeks.
“We got a lot of work to do. You gotta bare with us though,” said Director Kregg Kirby. “We’re really cramming a lot in a short amount of time. But when we open up it’s a little premature, but everyone wants us to and that’s what we’re gonna do.”
The building also houses the Dale Earnhardt Regional Innovation Complex. It’s part of Catawba Valley’s efforts to provide training for aircraft and boat mechanics and other jobs.
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Instructor Frank Reinhardt hopes to teach some of the classes there.
“You know everybody likes to fly,” he said. “And all the aircraft mechanics are aging out. And there is a very high demand for aircraft mechanics right now.”
The two-year program will be for full air frame and mechanics licenses with graduates able to make nearly $70,000 a year. They also have a flight simulator for people interested in becoming pilots.
The aviation museum is a nonprofit that has a collection of military aircraft, artifacts and memorabilia dating back to World War I.
Peach Prater, a resident, visited the airport Monday and believes combining the classes and museum is a good idea.
“That’s really cool,” said Prater. “I like the idea of a mechanic portion of it because we really need good mechanics but also being able to see planes up close is gonna be real exciting.”
Channel 9 also found out on Monday that the museum may place some of its vintage planes along the popular Hickory Aviation walk that runs along the airport.
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