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Leading Edge Flight Academy finishes helicopter operations hangar at Oregon airport

Photo Credit: Leading Edge Flight Academy

Bend, Ore.-based flying school Leading Edge Flight Academy has completed construction of a new helicopter operations hangar at Bend Municipal Airport Heliport.

“With the rapid growth of fixed-wing and helicopter schools throughout the nation, we foresaw the need for the expansion of our school,” Leading Edge CEO Brad Fraley said in a news release. “With the support of the FAA, City of Bend, and the State of Oregon, we have been able to attain our goal, and build a dedicated helicopter operations facility. Our new facility will ensure a safe training environment for our pilots, students, and commercial operations.”

The interior of the building consists of three offices, one conference room, seven ground training spaces, and a helicopter flight training device. The landing pad has capacity for 21 helicopters.

One of the main highlights of the new facility is the separation of flight operations at the airport, leaving pilots feeling safer with more room to complete their training, Fraley added.

“Flying out of the heliport has provided our students and instructors, very early on in their career, the ‘real world’ environment that they will be exposed to in the future,” said Chris Jordan, director of operations. “Since Leading Edge Aviation also runs its charter department out of the same facility, pilots have exposure to more advanced helicopters as well as high time pilots that are happy to share their experience and wisdom.”