By Jake Chng

STUDENTS of aerospace engineering at a university here will soon be able to try their hand at piloting a plane.

Next month, SIM University (UniSIM) will introduce a module to its bachelor's degree programme in aerospace systems engineering, which will let students fly a plane under a pilot's supervision.

Under this module, they will go through a three-hour lecture on aircraft aerodynamics and four flight sessions, where they learn about plane controls and experience scenarios such as stalling, when a plane starts to sink.

In each 21/2-hour flight session, they get to spend up to 11/2 hours airborne.

The rest of the time is spent on flight briefings and debriefings as well as quizzes after flights to assess what they have learnt.

UniSIM introduced this module to give students a hands-on experience of what they are maintaining and repairing, and the effects of each aerodynamic inside the aircraft, said school president Cheong Hee Kiat.

The module was designed by MAJ Aviation, an aviation-engineering and maintenance company, which will also conduct it.

The company will provide two four-seater planes - a Cessna 172 and a Diamond DA-40 - and three pilots for the sessions.

The planes will take off from the newly-opened Discovery Flying Club, a facility for flight enthusiasts co-owned by MAJ Aviation.

MAJ managing director Khoo Beng Keat said: "We wish to promote a greater interest in feel that the partnership with UniSIM in this course will help us achieve this aim.

"Students can also apply what they learn in this hands-on experience to their working lives."

Students have to pass each quiz before they can attend the next flight session. If they fail, they have to retake the quizzes.

At the end of the module, they have to take an examination.

From January next year, Uni- SIM will make the module compulsory for aerospace-engineering students. They will have to pay an extra $1,140 for it, on top of their degree-course fees of $36,980 to $41,730.

Second-year student Cindy Ng, 23, an aerospace technician, does not mind the extra cost.

"It is a rare opportunity to learn something at school that I can apply immediately to work, and it is value for money.

"For instance, the trial run yesterday showed me how an aircraft can stall if I fail to repair certain parts."

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