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| Sunday, 4 December 2005 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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From Abroad Super Skyhawks head for the classroom
It is an aeronautical student's dream come true: a chance to tinker with a real fighter jet. Not in some aircraft museum or factory, but right in the classroom itself. Four tertiary institutions in Singapore are each getting an A-4SU Super Skyhawk jet from the air force to use as teaching aids. The planes are part of a fleet of approximately 20 retired in March. The first was delivered recently to Singapore Polytechnic. Temasek Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) were also to receive theirs. The first four tonne plane delivered was dismantled into two sections - the cockpit and the tail - and hauled onto trucks in the wee hours of the morning and moved from Tengah Air Base in Choa Chu Kang to the Dover Road campus. Traffic had to be stopped every time the trucks turned a corner as the plane's nine-metre wing span stretched across all lanes. The movers also had to survey the 20 km route to ensure the trucks would fit.The whole process cost Singapore Polytechnic about 60,000 Singapore dollars. The planes will be used to help teach aeronautical engineering courses, and lecturers say students would undoubtedly gain from having a real one for close up study. "With an actual aircraft students will have the right perspectives in learning aircraft servicing," said Cheong Choon Kee, 54 principal instructor at Singapore Polytechnic's aeronautical engineering laboratory. "It will be different from training boards or aircraft components in the classroom." Using the real thing will help students get the big picture, said Professor Lennie Lim, acting dean of NTU's School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. "As an aircraft is made up of many systems working collectively, using an actual aircraft allows our students to observe how each of these systems function, where they are usually located on an aircraft and how they are integrated." The Defence Ministry has not ruled out donating planes to other universities and polytechnics. The remainder would likely be put on display or scrapped. The Super Skyhawks were the icons of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF). The former US Navy jets joined the fledgeling RSAF in 1974 and became the backbone of its fleet. Over the years, the RSAF upgraded the jets thrice and they were widely recognised as the most powerful of the various versions around the world. Predictably, aeronautical engineering students are now looking forward to attending class. Peter Fernandes, 26, a third-year diploma in mechatronics student at Temasek Polytechnic, is eager to get a look at the Super Skyhawk. "I used to live near Changi Air Base and I saw these planes every day," he said, "I can't wait to see one close up." The Straits Times |
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