Showcasing new technology gives flight school a media boost
Hartford Jet Center, Hartford, Connecticut, and Learn 2 Fly CT hit it out of the park when showcasing a new electric airplane for local news media. The story hit all the right notes for general aviation: cutting-edge technology and an airplane that flies on an electric battery that doesn’t run on aviation fuel.
A segment on the airplane broadcast by WVIT pointed out that Hartford Jet Center’s two-seat Pipistrel Alpha E-SLA is quieter than a piston aircraft. Aircraft noise is a source of much dissent between airports and residents in the heavily developed East Coast, so that’s a point in the airplane’s (and FBO’s) favor.
As this was written, avgas was going for $7.78 per gallon at Hartford-Brainard Airport (HFD)—and that fact was highlighted in the WVIT segment. Whatever rental customers are paying for the Alpha, it’s not going to the fuel pump. (The Alpha reportedly can travel 75 nautical miles before it needs a charge. Hartford Jet Center also happens to have Connecticut’s first electric aircraft charging station.)
The Pipistrel is part of the rental fleet at Learn2Fly CT, which I learned from a photo essay published by the Hartford Courant.
Hartford-Brainard Airport is also home to ATP Flight School and Premier Flight Center, so in attracting media attention for its fleet addition, Learn 2 Fly CT sets itself apart from its competitors.
Here are some takeaways for flight schools:
New technology, especially aviation technology, is eye candy for news media. Don’t be afraid to show off your cutting-edge stuff.
The mainstream news media doesn’t know aviation the way you do. If you invite them to your airport, educate them and don’t assume they know anything about the subject. The WVIT story distills electric aviation to its basic concepts that would fit into a short news segment and does so successfully; the Courant photo essay used the same photo caption over and over, but it had two important points: The Alpha engine can run for 75 minutes and takes about an hour to recharge.
Positioning yourself as the “first” at anything, as Hartford Jet Center did (“first electric airplane in Connecticut”) can be risky. There’s always the possibility that someone will come forward and say they’re actually the first at whatever you claimed to be the first. But it paid off for Hartford Jet Center and gave the local TV station an interesting lead.
