PCC’s Sky-High Makeover: Q400 livery gives training aircraft a new look
Story by James Hill. Photos by Ric Getter.
PCC’s Bombardier Q400 training aircraft with new livery.
That’s a wrap! Literally.
Portland Community College recently unveiled the new livery for its training aircraft – a Bombardier Q400 commercial propeller plane – just in time for the Oregon International Air Show. In 2022, Horizon Air flew the Q400 to the Hillsboro Airport and donated the former commercial aircraft to the PCC Foundation to provide students in the Aviation Maintenance Technology (AMT) Program with real-world training.
The airplane will be open for tours on both Saturday and Sunday, May 17-18 of the airshow and hosted by PCC and Horizon Air.
Soon, the Q400 will be used for hands-on instruction on modern engine and avionics technologies. The aircraft will provide PCC students with the chance to conduct – system servicing, wheel, brake, and tire changing, turbine engine run/ops check, airframe inspections, power plant inspections, ice and rain protection, air conditioning and pressurization, indicating and recording, autoflight (autopilot systems) and auxiliary power unit operation, inspection, and servicing.
The Q400 tail design.
“It is rare for an aviation maintenance school to have such a modern commercial aircraft for training,” said Tom Laxson, faculty chair of the Aviation Maintenance Technology Program. “It exposes students to technologies that are otherwise exclusive to tenured professionals of commercial aviation. Even just the aircraft’s maintenance manuals have had a significant modernizing effect on our offered training.”
PCC, and schools like it in the country, is the primary means by which the aviation industry gains new aviation maintenance workers in the region. The Oregon Employment Department reports Portland area aviation service technicians can earn a starting annual salary of $85,993, and a report by Boeing indicated a dire shortage of trained workers in the field.
“It’s critical to have hands-on experience for our students, and we’re doing that with this donation for aviation maintenance,” said PCC President Dr. Adrien Bennings. “Collaboration and partnership with the community make great things happen.”
The plane’s presence at the airport is a continuation of strong industry and community partnerships PCC has developed to strengthen its career-technical education (CTE) training. In 2020, the college partnered with the Hillsboro School District, Oregon Air Show Charitable Foundation and other key partners to create the dual-credit Oregon Aerospace Careers for Everyone (O-ACE) Program for high school students interested in careers as aviation maintenance technicians, avionics technicians or professional pilots.?
Students inspect landing gear
In 2021, AMT entered into a partnership with Horizon Air called the Horizon Technician 沙巴体育官网ment Program, providing students with industry-relevant training and employment opportunities.
“Our relationship with PCC is extremely strong,” said Archie Vega, Director of Line/Base Maintenance and Student 沙巴体育官网ment with Horizon Air.
Wendy Wright, a senior graphic designer for the foundation and a graduate of PCC’s Graphic Design Program, created the livery. Her creative design took between 150-200 hours to develop and included a fuselage wrap and a new blue color scheme for the tail.
“People don’t realize all of the ‘behind the curtain’ things that happen to make something so incredibly complex look so simple,” Wright said. “I also loved the collaboration that it took to get to this point. This plane not only helps one of our many programs at the college but is a huge gift to the entire college.”
Wright’s involvement symbolizes how involved the PCC Foundation is with providing resources for CTE programs like AMT. The foundation has three aviation-related scholarships to fund student success and program training, and has collectively awarded $24,400 to AMT students during the 2024-25 academic year.
For more information on PCC’s Aviation Maintenance Technology, visit its program page.
