Davenport Public Schools was awarded an $8,000 grant through the Aviation Education Grant Program provided by the Oklahoma Aviation Commission.
Davenport Superintendent Danny Acord applied for the grant in May and said they will use the money to update their flight simulator.
Acord said they are currently using a 2010 Red Bird FMX Flight Simulator that they acquired last spring and plan on updating the simulator’s computer
“The operating system works, but it’s old and slow,” he said. “It takes a long time.”
Acord said this upgrade will allow students to do anything a plane could do like cross country flights, work on instrument ratings, new programs, etc.
“It’s going to open a lot of doors,” he said.
“You can practice all these things that you have to be able to do in real life. It’s really going to make it very life like.”
Acord said by upgrading the simulator’s computer they will be able to give the student who want to pursue aviation a leg up on the competition.
Davenport schools started their aviation program in 2019.
“We have a freshman class and a sophomore class,” he said. “Our goal is to add a class every year. It’s a four year program, but we’re only in our second year.”
Last year, Acord said he had about 29 students in the class.
The curriculum they use is the AOPA High School Aviation Curriculum.
This program teaches students the policies and procedures related to the safe operation of an aircraft and prepares them for the FAA Private Pilot exam. The program also helps students develop practical flight skills, which they can log towards the Private Pilot flight training requirements.
Acord said he was looking for scholarships and information on how to get his personal license when he ran across the curriculum.
Acord passed the written test in 1995, but didn’t get enough hours done in time before this time lapsed.