New hangars of the Silesian University of Technology at the airport in Gliwice
The Silesian University of Technology has two modern, year-round aircraft hangars. Today they were officially put into operation at the Gliwice airport. Airplanes will be stored in one, the other will be a workshop for mechanics. As part of the investment, an administration and training building was also built.
The hangars have an area of over 1,000 square meters. Together with the administration and training building, they will be used to carry out statutory tasks by aviation centres operating within the Civil Aviation Personnel Training Centre of Central and Eastern Europe of the Silesian University of Technology. These facilities will be used by employees and students of the Silesian University of Technology studying in the fields of Transport and Aerospace Engineering.
The new buildings will host theoretical classes, workshops and projects related to preparation for practical training of pilots and aircraft mechanics.
- When in 2019, at the same airport, in front of the main hall of the Gliwice Aero Club, we opened the Academic Aviation Training Centre, we had two hangars in field conditions with a grass runway and facilities. Today we have a concrete runway and two modern facilities. Not much time has passed since 2019, but in terms of the conditions for educating pilots and aircraft mechanics, we have made enormous progress - said the Rector of the Silesian University of Technology, Prof. Arkadiusz Mężyk.
Putting modern hangars into operation puts the Silesian University of Technology at the forefront of universities educating in aviation specialties.
- This is our mission; we must be modern and innovative. We are a winner of the Research University Excellence Initiative competition, so we feel obliged - added the rector.
The opening ceremony of the modern hangars is the culmination of all activities of the Silesian University of Technology, the aim of which was to create aviation courses at the university. It started with the establishment of the Civil Aviation Personnel Training Centre of Central and Eastern Europe (CKKLC) in 2008, which is a non-faculty unit of the Silesian University of Technology. One of the initiators of its establishment was Artur Tomasik, chairman of the University Council of the Silesian University of Technology and president of the Upper Silesian Aviation Society managing the Katowice Airport in Pyrzowice.
– This day was our dream and we dreamed of opening a modern education centre at the Silesian University of Technology, keeping up with the needs of the world. Today we educate mechanics, navigators, aircraft and aircraft parts designers. The aviation industry is an industry of new technologies, we face big challenges and I think that we are a university that is opening up to the needs of the modern world - emphasized President Tomasik.
The new buildings at the Gliwice airport are facilities adapted to carry out training tasks regardless of the season and day. So far, due to low temperatures from late autumn to early spring, this activity has been significantly limited. - Putting the new hangars into operation will also allow for full centralization of the training and administrative activities of aviation centres. So far, we have used, among others, facilities owned by the Gliwice Aero Club and other organizational units of the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice - said dr hab. Eng. pilot Jarosław Kozuba, prof. SUT – Director of the Civil Aviation Personnel Training Centre of Central and Eastern Europe at the Silesian University of Technology.
The Silesian University of Technology is one of five state universities educating students of aviation specialties based on the highest standards specified in the relevant acts of international and national aviation law. – We currently have aircraft and aircraft maintenance equipment based on the latest technological standards. This equipment allows us to prepare our students to perform tasks on aircraft whose construction is based on the latest technological and material achievements used in aviation and space technology. The new facilities fully meet the needs of the Silesian University of Technology in terms of education in aviation specialties - emphasized dr hab. Eng. pilot Jarosław Kozuba, prof. SUT
The construction of the new hangars took over two years. The cost of this investment is PLN 13.5 million. So far, the Silesian University of Technology has invested PLN 40 million in the development of aviation education.
