WATCH VIDEO | New flight simulator helps students soar at Nulton Aviation

Flight training has climbed to new heights in Johnstown.

A new $103,000 flight simulator will allow students at Nulton Aviation learn how to  use different types of aircraft in all weather conditions without risking their lives of valuable aircraft.

The Redbird flight simulator was installed last month as part of a $2.1 million expansion and renovation of the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport’s fixed-base operations center.

Nulton Aviation is the airport’s primary fixed base operator, handling private and business aviation needs, such as fueling, aircraft maintenance and pilot support.

On a tour of the renovated areas, Nulton CEO Corbin Nulton and Vice President Larry Nulton said the upgraded facility will present a more business-like first impression and allow for a broader range of aviation business opportunities.

“We are trying to get it to look more like an airport,” Larry Nulton said in the spacious lobby and office area.

The first impression begins at the new entrances to the facility, known in aviation circles as the FBO. Matching sliding glass doors from the tarmac and parking lot sides bring visitors into the spacious lobby area, featuring a wall of windows overlooking the airfield.

“This is what we were lacking before: An entrance,” Larry Nulton said.

The old FBO had separate entrances. Pilots coming from the airfield had to step through a tiny shed and down a cramped hallway.

There is a new pilot area and restrooms. A new indoor hallway connects the main lobby to the expanded administrative offices and flight school areas.

Upgraded lighting and new hangar doors are in the works for two large hangars attached to the FBO business center. The hangars and flight school represent two growing areas of business for Nulton Aviation and the airport.

Rental space in one hangar is at full occupancy and the aircraft maintenance hangar’s operation continues to grow, Larry Nulton said.

The flight school has developed partnerships with Pennsylvania Highlands Community College and St. Francis University. 

Through the partnerships, students get credits for flight training to become licensed pilots as part of aviation-related business degrees and other majors.

“We have the FBO now coordinating with area schools to generate interest of ambitious, career-oriented people in aviation,” airport Manager Tom Keyes said. 

Funding for the FBO upgrade came through a state grant that did not require a local match. 

At its February meeting, the airport authority approved another $500,000 project to continue work on the FBO hangars and cover cost-overruns on the original project.

A state grant for the additional work requires a 25 percent local match. The authority stipulated that Nulton would have to cover that cost, but scheduled a meeting to discuss financing options.

“We worked out the match the other day,” Nulton said, without offering additional details before authority’s April 16 meeting.

A healthy, financially active fixed-base operation is vital to the airport’s success, Keyes said.

Income from fuel sales, landing fees and hangar rental come to the airport through the FBO.

“How nice it is to have a brand new, well appropriated FBO building,” Keyes said.