University of North Dakota Orders 25 Cessnas
7/10/2008
The University of North Dakota says it has ordered 25 Cessna 172 Skyhawks to be used as the basic training planes for its aviation school.
Cessna says the 172 is among the most popular training planes. The price of the UND order has not been released.
Cessna Aircraft is a subsidiary of Textron Inc., based in Providence, R.I. UND says based on unit sales, Cessna is the world`s largest maker of general aviation planes.
Long live the Skyhawk! 8)
I bet that little company up in Duluth Mn isn’t happy about this.
Those aircraft that come from MN are not exactly BASIC TRAINING AIRCRAFT
I’m more curious about why they are replacing their Piper Warriors.
The SR20 is definitely not a good aircraft for primary training, despite what the company says. But yeah, I’m sure they’re just as tee’d off as when the state of MN bought a bunch of Barons.
True, but being that they have a facility in Grand Forks, it is in some ways a slap in the face. Of course, the Cessna’s may be considered more legitimate trainers then 20’s.
Considering the other connections between Cirrus and UND I would think that the folks in Duluth just accept the fact that you can’t win them all.
All of the Cirrus Access pilots come from the UND instructor program.
I suppose the folks in Wichita made damn sure they got the deal. Maybe they’re outsourcing the contract to their partners at Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.
The SR20 is actually a good aircraft for a college aviation program. While training pilots for careers in the industry, they need to have as much experience possible. The avionics systems in the SR20s are very similar to those in many modern commercial aircraft, as compared to a Skyhawk.
When I was finishing college at UND in 2006, they had 4 SR20’s that they used for the CFI-I course. I worked at the GFK Cirrus plant at the same time, so it was a big deal at work when they started selling them to UND. The SR20s and the Piper Warriors they were getting all had the Avidyne Entegra glass cockpits, so it was a perfect deal for going back and forth.
With that said, (IMHO) the SR20 would be a good airplane for the single engine commercial or instrument course, but not for the primary private pilot course. UND requires all of their ATC and Aviation Management students to go through the private pilot course at a minimum. I was ATC and went all the way through ME Comm and IFR, and some others do too, but most just get the private. Out in the real world, I haven’t found an aircraft with a glass cockpit for rent that I could afford on an air traffic controller’s salary.
The vacuum failure I had in the clouds in a 1978 PA28 after college made me happy to have gotten my instrument rating in a Warrior with steam gauges, and not on a glass cockpit.
But . . . if I had the money, I’d buy a brand new SR22 in a heartbeat.
FAA Registry UND’s current fleet includes their new Cessna Mustang, and the four SR-20’s.
[quote=“wazzu90”]
Possible Companies
Beechcraft
Learjet
Cessna
Airbus
I am betting you are referring to Airbus. 
Sorry I had to be picky. 
IMHO, the G1000 available is also very similar to the systems in many commercial aircraft, from Citation to Airbus to Boeing.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3109/2452261210_eff7192f5b.jpg
Credit: flyguy92586 on Flickr. Apparently available to students @ $1200/hr. Divide by 6 = SPRING BREAK!!!
jmcmanna, I was there in 06 as well. 04-06 to be exact. in 06 i was doing ATC classes. never got to try the new Dell system though 
The Warriors were/are cost effective, and were very good fliers. I loved training in them, more than in the C-172s I flew before coming to UND. As far as the Cirruses, the school DOES have some, at least 4, including one with pink accents i think(?) It is just alot cheaper to operate10-20 year old Pipers than 1-5 year old Cirruses.
I find it awesome that they replaced the Cheyenne (N25ND), assuming thats what they replaced with the Mustang.
So, if they are replacing the Warriors, what about the Archers and Seminoles? I would think it would be VERY difficult to start off in a Cessna for Private and instrument, move into a Piper for high-end and multi training, then back to Cessna for CFI, then back to Piper for MEI, then back to Cessna for Commercial…
I believe UND has the Cirrus planes for glass training. For a while, Cirrus were the only GA planes with glass cockpits, which may be why the have the Cirrus planes.
Gotta divide each way of the trip into three different legs, or else a fight over who drives will break out!
UND got their SR20 about the same time as they started taking delivery of their glass cockpit PA28’s (both Avidyne Entegra setups). They were using the SR20 for CFI-I students. I don’t know if they mixed all the PA28s together or separated the glass cockpits for some courses and the steam gauges for others.
well, if you remember, we used whatever was available between the Bendix King orange and blacks, and the Garmin 430s, so I would assume it was probably the same way? Maybe not though, but just a thought.