For release: Jan. 23, 2013
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MURFREESBORO — With
MTSU’s nationally recognized aerospace program as a focal point, five groups
announced the establishment of an agreement in principle Jan. 23 to work
together to help train Chinese pilots on their new Beechcraft King Air 350
Extended Range airplane currently housed in Smyrna, Tenn.
Along with state Sen. Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro, officials
from MTSU, the Civil Aviation Authority in China, China-based Flying Dragon
General Aviation Co. Ltd., Franklin, Tenn.-based PacUS LLC and Smyrna-based
Corporate Flight Management announced the agreement during a morning meeting in
the new Student Union Building.
Civil Aviation Authority in China officials discussed their interest
in helping MTSU and Corporate Flight Management gain approval for training
pilots on the new plane.
“We’re now in a
position to provide training expertise and the support they will need,” said
MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee, making reference to the Chinese civil aviation
authority. “… We are ready to go with this initiative. One of our goals is
partnerships with business and industry. The aviation industry in China is
about to explode. FedEx and UPS are just waiting for this.”
Mike Vaughn, president of PacUS LLC, orchestrated all
parties coming together on the agreement.
“Today, the success is realized,” Vaughn said, sharing that
it all began two years ago when MTSU held a general aviation conference with
the China National Aerospace University (Beihang University) at the MTSU’s
flight center at Murfreesboro Airport.
“Since then, our business has grown,” he added. “We are
comfortable doing business with China as Tennesseans. Trade is part of our
heritage and we are proud to represent our state through commerce. Today is a
milestone for us and we look forward to more sales and visits from China in the
future.”
The Beechcraft King Air will be based in Qinghai, in the
foothills of the Tibetan Plateau. The airplane will fly with a rear-tail, boom-mounted
magnetometer used for geophysical and geochemical exploration in the Tibetan Plateau.
Valued at more than $10 million, the U.S. export deal was arranged by the
Franklin, Tenn.-based international business management company, PacUS LLC, and
its Hong Kong affiliate, CFM China Ltd.
Vaughn added that wheels will be turning in all the
application processes “in the next 30 days or so.”
Speaking through interpreter Jenny Wei, an MTSU aerospace
graduate student who interns for Corporate Flight Management and PacUS and who
will graduate in May, Chinese team leader Renhao Zhang said he “is excited to
be here for the acceptance of the aircraft (King Air),” and “glad to see the
cooperation” between all parties.
Zhang represented the Civil Aviation Authority in China
Northeast Division. He was joined by fellow CAAC Northeast Division associates
Bo Liang and Bin Yang, and Guowei Wang of China Flying Dragon during both
today’s announcement and their week-long visit to Middle Tennessee.
Ketron, representing Gov. Bill Haslam, spoke of how this
alliance means “the opening of doors and creation of jobs, helping the
economy.”
The Civil Aviation Authority in China is the equivalent to
the U.S.’s Federal Aviation Administration.
Dr. Ron Ferrara, interim chair of the MTSU aerospace
department, said students would benefit from “more exposure to international
students and it might open opportunities for them overseas.”
The airplane is housed at Corporate Flight Management’s
hangar at the Smyrna Airport. Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China also is
interested in purchasing maintenance services here.
Negotiations for selling the planes began in 2011 when
Chinese Aero Geophysical Survey Remote officials visited Tennessee. The plane,
which is the first of its type in China, will be delivered to Harbin, China,
for their Aero Geophysical Survey Remote Sensing Center for Land and Resources,
a division of China’s Ministry of Natural Resources. Company officials are in
Rutherford County for the final on-site inspection before the plane is shipped
to China.
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Photo captions
Discussing agreement.jpg
MTSU President Sidney
A. McPhee, second from left, discusses the economic impact of the agreement in
principle reached by five business partners. Listening to McPhee are, at left,
state Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, Renhao Zhang of the Civil Aviation
Authority in China Northeast Division and Mike Vaughn, president of
Franklin-based PacUS LLC. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt/Creative and Visual
Services)
King Air 350 Extended
Range.jpg
The Beechcraft King
Air 350 Extended Range will be used for geophysical and geochemical exploration
in the Tibetan plateau. (File photo provided by Mike Vaughn)
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