CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – (CLARKSVILLENOW) Austin Peay State University (APSU) officials Wednesday unveiled the first of three helicopters, GOV 1, in its new rotor-wing fleet.

The helicopters are part of the state’s first and only aviation science program with a rotor-wing concentration, according to APSU.

Charlie Weigandt, the program’s director and chief helicopter pilot, circled the plaza beside the Art + Design building before lowering the Guimbal Cabri G2 – named GOV 1 – to the lawn. The landing was GOV 1’s first on campus.

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Photos by Lee Erwin/ClarksvilleNow.com

“This is a historic event, and it’s one that has been in the planning stages for a long time,” APSU President Alisa White said in a release from the university. “This came as a result of faculty talking to industry. ‘Where are the jobs? Where are the needs?’ I don’t even know how many conversations (they) had with industry leaders to find out what is needed in this area for our workforce to be at the ready.”

White cited the work of Dr. Karen Meisch, interim dean of the College of STEM, Dr. Jaime Taylor, previous STEM dean, and Dr. Kristine Nakutis, executive director of the Austin Peay Center @ Fort Campbell, for launching the program.

Last week, Weigandt flew two Cabri G2s to Clarksville – during a three-day solo flight from Portland, Oregon, and a short flight from St. Louis, Missouri (about 1,900 miles and 21 hours of flight time) – before housing them at Clarksville Regional Airport. A Robinson R44 soon will join the University’s helicopter fleet.

The helicopters will be keystones in Austin Peay’s aviation science degree with a concentration in rotor wing (helicopters) program, which launched in the fall. The degree requires more than 175 hours of flight time. The first flight lab will be this spring, Weigandt said.

The program benefits Fort Campbell pilots transitioning from the military and civilians pursuing careers in flight instruction, aerial tourism, charter operations and other rotor-wing pilot careers.

“Because of living in such a great community, with such a large military presence, Austin Peay State University is afforded an opportunity with which comes a responsibility to care for and educate over 2,400 military-affiliated students, which includes our active-duty students, National Guard and Reserve service members, veterans from all services, along with spouses and children of all of those groups,” Retired Brig. Gen. Scott Brower, APSU’s military adviser in residence and former deputy commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division, said.

Rotor-wing students will learn flight skills and academics in a renovated, aviation-oriented facility at Clarksville Regional Airport (Outlaw Field).

“Without Outlaw Field doing this, we couldn’t do this,” White said in a release. “The partnerships that have been established with this program are just indicative of the kind of partnerships we want going forward. We want to be a part of the University’s and the state’s goals to support the economy and to support our families and to support our community. “Without our entire community, without everybody at the table, this could not be possible.”

APSU says unlike other flight training facilities in the region, the APSU program is staffed by full-time faculty, well experienced in rotor-wing training.

For more about Austin Peay’s aviation science program, visit https://www.apsu.edu/programs/undergraduate/aviation-science-rotor-wing.php.