Donation Gets BRCC Program Off the Ground

WEYERS CAVE — For Blue Ridge Community College, free gifts from the community drop right out of the sky, literally.

On Wednesday afternoon, Dynamic Aviation, an aerodynamics company based in Bridgewater, officially handed over the keys to one of its 48-foot-wide airplanes.

About two-dozen folks from the college and the aviation company gathered in BRCC’s hangar in the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport, where officials from the organizations talked about the gift.

For the last 15 years, the plane was used in Mexico, Jamaica, California and Florida to drop sterilized fruit flies over crops, explained Michael Stoltzfus, president and chief executive officer of Dynamic Aviation. The tactic, which looks a little like crop dusting, is used to control fly populations.

But, with 12,000 hours of flying time, the plane is too old for them to use.

Although Stoltzfus wouldn’t reveal the exact worth of the plane, he later told the Daily News-Record it was “several hundred thousand dollars.” Dynamic also spent money to paint the blue BRCC logo on the tail and “Capt. Jim Perkins” below the front window, in honor of the college’s president.

“I about fell over when I saw that,” said Perkins, laughing. “I never thought I’d have a name on a plane. … This is not a typical donation. This is a really exciting time for BRCC.”

What They’ll Do With It

BRCC is two months into its first round of teaching aviation tech, instructors explained. The program, which officially opened in August and takes about two years to complete, has about a dozen students.

“This is not a Jiffy Lube,” said Josh Thingstad, a 21-year-old student from New Hope. “We’re learning four years of work in two years.”

Fred Dyen, BRCC aviation instructor, said students will use the plane to study turbines, landing gears and pressurized systems. Although the plane will likely never fly again, students will practice tinkering inside it for years to come.

“The plane has one of every kind of system we need in order to teach these kids and comply with the [Federal Aviation Administration],” Dyen said.

Meanwhile, Kurt Magalis, a 22-year-old student from McGaheysville, said he’s excited to work on the plane.

“It’s like working on a car, but bigger and harder,” Magalis joked.

And just about everyone at BRCC is excited about it.

“It’s going to be an awesome training aid,” said John Abernathy, instructional assistant.