I just received a lenghty email from Rick and I thought some people here might be interested. The attatchment he mentions is the same 28 items listed in this thread already.
Eric,
Thanks for your email. Please allow me to tell you a short story. Several months ago the hangar that I used at Hicks Airfield was sold, and the new owner and I couldn?t work out a good agreement for TOPCAT School?s continued use of the facility. At about the same time Tarrant County College (TCC) asked me to work on a National Science Foundation (NSF) project that they were the lead college on. TCC is the community college that serves Fort Worth, Texas and the surrounding area. TCC has an A&P program that is 36 years old and is, according to the FAA, the highest rated A&P program in the state. The NSF project was to be known as the National Center for Aircraft Technician Training (NCATT). It was a great opportunity and I agreed to work on the project. I became the project?s ?Business Liaison?, the project?s ?Grant Writer? and ?Coordinator of Special Projects, Aeronautical Technology Department?. The proposal that I submitted to NSF was selected and funded by the NSF. I then became, and am, the ?National Director of Accreditation and Certification? for NCATT. As you might suspect, I?ve been busy. If you?re interested take a look at the NCATT website at
www.ncatt.org [
ncatt.org], it?s a continuing work in progress.
Back to what both of us are interested in, TOPCAT School. I?ve never abandon the project. Having had a long association with TCC (from 1980 to the present) I suspected that I might be able to work out an agreement with TCC through which the TOPCAT School Program could come back into existence. I'm in the process of developing that partnership agreement now. When the details are worked out I'll be able to use the classrooms, laboratory and equipment (training aids) that we use in the college?s A&P program. It will be the same equipment that we train A&P mechanics on. It will make the TOPCAT School program a lot better, and we won't have to worry about breaking "real" airplanes in the training process. It also means that owners won?t have to fly their airplanes from all over the country. It also means that the program should cost several hundred dollars less. The down side is it will cover only the owner training. The owner will still have to contact their local FAA office to convert their airplane to the ?Primary Category?, but with the training completed, ?Certificate of Competency? issued and signed-off, and the STC and instructions from the Fort Worth FAA FSDO to the owner?s FAA FSDO providing instructions on that process in hand, the owner will be in good shape.
I?ll keep you informed. I?ve also received FAA approval for several more items to be included in the list of ?preventive maintenance? items that are a part of the TOPCAT School STC for C-150/152 aircraft. I?ve attached the new items to this email.
Thanks again, and I?ll let you know when the partnership is completed, and classes are offered.
Rick
