Holiday Hours

FIT Aviation has special hours this holiday season as follows:

Friday, December 23
Open: 7:00 AM
Close: 5:00 PM
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
Closed
Monday, December 26
Open: 7:00 AM
Close: 5:00 PM
Tuesday, December 27 thru Thursday, December 29
Open: 7:00 AM
Close: 10:00 PM
Friday, December 30
Open: 7:00 AM
Close: 5:00 PM
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day
Closed
Monday, January 2
Open: 7:00 AM
Close: 5:00 PM

If you have any questions about these hours, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Service Department at (321) 674-6501.

Established in 1968, FIT Aviation, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Florida Institute of Technology and an integral part of the College of Aeronautics. We support the aviation program using the latest in FAA publications for guidance and a very diverse fleet of 54 aircraft, providing our students with the best in aviation education from private pilot certification through ATP. Succeed Above and Beyond at FIT Aviation.

Air Race Blog

Follow the journey of our Air Race Classic team through our Air Race Classic Blog. We will update it daily with information about the competition and with more pictures of this fabulous event.

Florida Tech Women to Compete in Air Race

Amelia Earhart did it. Bobbi Trout did it. And now Victoria Dunbar and Safiye Ademoglu of Florida Institute of Technology will do it, too. They’ll fly the Air Race Classic, June 21-24, in the 35th annual event all-female air race, formerly known as the Powder Puff Derby. No Florida Tech team has entered the race before.

Dunbar, a Florida Tech flight instructor and her student, 26-year-old Ademoglu, of Turkey, will fly a Cessna Sky Hawk in the four-day, 10-stop race that will take them from Iowa City to Mobile, Ala. They will be one of 50 flight teams competing for monetary and memorabilia awards.

Dunbar competed previously, in 2009, for Indiana State University, where she was on the faculty. Her two-woman team took first place in the collegiate subgroup of the Competitive Division that year, and second overall in the race that spanned about 2,700 statute miles. The 2011 race will be about the same distance.

Because the team flying the fastest plane could easily win, the planes are handicapped according to their speed. The Florida Tech plane is considered somewhere in the mid-to-slow range of contending planes, according to Dunbar. “It will be all about flight plans and strategy that will determine who wins,” she said.

The Florida Tech team is sponsored by Turkish Airlines. Ademoglu, working on her private pilot certificate, now has 40 flying hours under her belt—and will have that many more when she finishes the race. She is the only female among 134 Turkish flight students currently training at Florida Tech’s flight training arm, F.I.T. Aviation. About 40 more Turkish students are due to arrive this summer, all part of a five-year flight training contract with the Turkish national flag carrier, Turkish Airlines. Under the contract, FIT Aviation will train Turkish pilots up to the FAA commercial pilot level.

The Florida Tech flight team plans to leave for Iowa City on June 16 or 17. The winners will be announced at a banquet in Mobile on June 26. For more information, visit www.airraceclassic.org.

Florida Tech Appoints Vera Director of FIT Aviation

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Col. Glenn Vera (USAF Ret.) has been appointed director of FIT Aviation, LLC, the flight training operation of Florida Institute of Technology. Vera assumes his new post Monday, Jan. 17.

Vera has a range of experience in aviation and aerospace-related activities, including more than 25 years of U.S. Air Force service. He was directly involved in the space career field for nearly half of those years. From 1984 to 1989, Vera was assigned to the 50th Airmanship Training Squadron, eventually serving as the operations officer, and directing the largest flying training program at the U.S. Air Force Academy. In this role, he oversaw the instruction of more than 2,300 cadets annually and executed a 1,400-hour flying program. Under his direction, the squadron won the Air Force Association’s Citation of Honor.

“We are pleased and fortunate to have someone of Glenn’s experience and background join us at FIT Aviation,” said Winston Scott, dean of the College of Aeronautics. “His leadership abilities and particularly his flight training experience are an ideal match for FIT Aviation.”

“I am excited to be joining Florida Tech and FIT Aviation,” Vera said. “I look forward to working with the next generation of pilots as they acquire the skills they need to be successful and perform their jobs safely in a demanding field.”

In 1990, Vera began his first space assignment at the 2nd Space Operations Squadron and was subsequently selected as the director of operations. As director, he provided command and control of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and oversaw the training, certification and scheduling of an 80-person crew. Vera was assigned to Cheyenne Mountain in 1992 and later named Deputy Chief of the Joint Combat Centers Division. Here he directed operations, plans and analysis for the NORAD/U.S. Space Command Center, the Space Control Center and the Missile Warning Center. In 1995, Vera went on to serve as the Commander of the 534th Training Squadron, where he conducted satellite and spacelift operations initial qualification training for three of the four Space Wings in Air Force Space Command.