SAIT aviation students get a close look at the Cyclone, pride of the RCAF

Aviation and avionics students at SAIT had the chance to get up close and personal with a Royal Canadian Air Force Cyclone helicopter on Friday, while learning about career opportunities associated with maintaining military aircraft.

The yearly recruitment visit to SAIT’s Art Smith Aero Centre in northeast Calgary supports Air Force efforts to attract new Canadian Armed Forces members to aviation technical trades — specifically, aviation systems technicians, aircraft structures technicians and avionics systems technicians.

Students heard presentations from experienced RCAF technicians, while also getting to see one of the Canadian military’s most prized aircraft up close.

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Master Cpl. Trisha Chipman, a member of the RCAF’s Air Maintenance Branch Air Attractions Team (AMBAAT), said the visit to Calgary is part of a countrywide recruitment effort. AMBAAT’s arrival in Calgary followed a similar event at Okanagan College’s Kelowna Aerospace Campus on Wednesday.

“We’re looking to recruit technicians more than ever right now, because we have a lot of new aircraft coming in, so that means we need more hands to work on them,” she said.

The recruitment push comes as the federal government aims to dramatically increase its defence budget . Ottawa is targeting to spend five per cent of Canada’s GDP on defence — nearly $150 billion annually — by 2035. Canada spent $63 billion on its military last year, which met NATO’s target of two per cent of GDP.

A highlight of the SAIT event was the opportunity to see inside the RCAF’s CH-148 Cyclone, the Canadian Armed Forces’ main ship-borne maritime helicopter, which provides air support to the Royal Canadian Navy’s warships.

The Cyclone can be used for surface and subsurface surveillance, search and rescue missions, tactical transport and more, according to a federal government web page. The helicopter can operate during the day or night, and in most weather conditions to support navy missions in Canada and around the world.

SAIT’s students were able to see inside the helicopter, which is typically stationed at bases in Patricia Bay, B.C., or Shearwater, N.S., while learning about the rotorcraft from its crew members and technicians.

“I think it just heightens their interest because they get to see in person an aircraft they might end up being trained on or going to work on daily,” said Chipman, an aviation systems technician.

More than 400 students are enrolled in SAIT’s aviation program, which is operated out of the Art Smith Aero Centre, a satellite campus and hangar near the Calgary International Airport.

Among the SAIT students taking part Friday was Clinton Chuwuka, a 22-year-old international avionic technology student from Nigeria.