NCAT set to acquire Hungary manufactured Magnus training aircraft

The Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria is set to bring in Magnus, a training aircraft manufactured in Hungary that would further boost the training of the students and also increase the number of aircrafts in the school’s fleet.

The Rector /Chief Executive Officer of the College, Captain Moddibo Alkali Mahmud, while dropping this hint, said the school had gone to Hungary with the officials of the Ministry of Aviation and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to inspect the manufacturer’s factory and that sooner than later the aircraft will start arriving the college.

“It gladdens me to tell you that we are moving another step higher. We are thinking of getting Magnus, which is another airplane that is manufactured in Hungary. We have been to their factory with the NCAA and the Ministry of Aviation. We conducted our technical inspection; sooner or later, we will start to have those machines here.

“The advantages of that machine are that; one, it is made from carbon fibre, very light and it uses Premium Motoring Spirit (PMS) like the one you use in your car. So, from AvGas, we went down to Jet A1 and we are also going into Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). It is going to be less expensive to run with that aircraft.”

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According to Moddibo, “the unique thing about the aircraft is that it has a parachute of its own, hence, if you lose an engine while flying it, there is a parachute that you will pull and the engine will come out and the pilot will be able to land the aircraft with that parachute. With this, you have saved a life and the equipment. The parachute is there for you in case you lose an engine and the aircraft has only one engine.”

He used the opportunity to clear the air on why the Fire Fighting Simulator in the school had not been put into use, stating that the equipment was undergoing certification and that it was in the second stage of it after which it would be certified by NCAA.

“The equipment is an automated firefighting simulator, which gives room for simulating incident and accident activities that require fire. The firefighting simulator is undergoing the process of certification. We are in stage two of the process and the NCAA is responsible for issuing certification for the equipment and it cannot give you the certificate until you are through with all the processes, which we are working hard on to get. As soon as the second phase is completed, the machine would be put to use,” he said.

On why the contract for the construction of the fire simulator was awarded without provisions for access roads, power and fire tenders, Moddibo said, “The firefighting tender (E1) we have is one of the best equipment you can find anywhere. It is so big that the fence and the access road and the culvert are giving more challenges for that machine to be used at that place and NCAT is coming out with another provision of a smaller fire tender, which I know before we put it to use, we will have another fire tender.

“Also, the electricity at that part of the College is being worked on. In essence, we are going to take electricity from the completed simulator Boeing 737 aircraft and we will deliver it to the firefighting simulator side. I think we are almost done with that.”