Aviation program flying high

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Photo by Leo Armstrong/Times

Oscar Santiago, student at the Aviation center working on a prop engine.

MATC offers a unique Aviation program that draws in students from as far as Ukraine, China and South Korea to get a degree that is FAA approved, allowing students to work all around the world because of the high standard that the FAA holds.
But what really sets the program apart is the week that they spend every year working with the Wisconsin Air National Guard 128th Air Refueling Wing located at the General Mitchell Air National Guard Base.
Here the students get to learn all about current military technology with access to KC-135 Boeing planes.  During their time at the 128th, the students get to take apart a 1986 plane, remove and install a turbo fan engine, and use full motion flight simulators where they get to start, taxi, fly and land planes.
During the rest of the program students work on learning the theory of all the plane components and then spend 400 to 750+ hours working on planes such as Sabre T-39 Jets, King Air A-90 turbo props, and Bell Jet Ranger model 206 B planes for their specific degrees.
MATC offers a Air Frame program as an option for continued education for those students who finish the Aviation general degree.
After MATC many of the students go to work for Endeavor Airlines or for Cesna Citation.