Parks College Of Engineering, Aviation And Technology
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Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology was a college within
Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...
. It formed from the pre-existing Parks Air College, founded by Oliver Parks in 1927. Its successor is the Oliver L. Parks Department of Aviation Science within the SLU School of Science and Engineering at Saint Louis University.


History


Parks Air College

Parks Air College was founded by Oliver Parks in the city of East Saint Louis, Illinois in 1927. Parks was America's first federally certified school of aviation, holding the FAA Air Agency Certificate no. 1. Oliver Parks started as the sole flight instructor with two instruction aircraft at Lambert Airfield. The venture nearly ended when Parks crashed a Laird Swallow training aircraft leaving only one remaining trainer and was unable to teach lessons while in the hospital. He bought 100 acres in East St. Louis in 1928 and built five buildings the same year. By 1929 Parks operated 35
Travel Air The Travel Air Manufacturing Company was an aircraft manufacturer established in Wichita, Kansas, United States in January 1925 by Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech, and Lloyd Stearman. An early leader in single-engine, light-aircraft manufacturing, ...
trainers with an enrollment of 600 students. Parks College was initially a publicly traded company. During the great depression, the
Detroit Aircraft Corporation The Detroit Aircraft Corporation was incorporated in Detroit, Michigan on July 10, 1922, as the Aircraft Development Corporation. The name was changed in 1929. The Detroit corporation owned the entire capital stock of the Ryan Aircraft Corp., Air ...
bought up eighty percent of the stock as part of a large merger of aviation entities. Oliver Parks sold most of his assets to buy back a controlling interest. The college students manufactured their own series of biplane aircraft, including the Parks P-2A, which became the "hero" of books by author
Richard Bach Richard David Bach (born June 23, 1936) is an American writer. He has written numerous flight-related works of fiction and non-fiction. His works include '' Jonathan Livingston Seagull'' (1970) and '' Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Mes ...
. The college quickly got out of the manufacturing business, selling the P2A rights to Ryan leading to the Ryan Speedster, and later the Hammond 100. In 1931 Parks offered an Executive Transport Pilot's course. In the 1930s those enrolled as aeronautical engineers were required to design, construct and test fly their own aircraft. In 1935, Parks College started Parks College Airline, a student-run airline on a single route between the college and Chicago, Memphis, Indianapolis, and Kansas City. The airline operated into the 1950s flying Cessna T-50 Bamboo Bombers. By 1936 enrollment reached 200 students, with a training fleet that consisted of 49 aircraft including the Kinner Sportster and Lambert Twin Monocoach. Student activities included fraternal participation. Park Air College hosted chapters of Kappa Delta Rho, Phi Alpha Chi,
Alpha Phi Omega Alpha Phi Omega (), commonly known as APO, but also A-Phi-O and A-Phi-Q, is a national Mixed-sex education, coeducational Service fraternities and sororities, service Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It is the largest College fraterniti ...
, Alpha Pi Sigma, Alpha Beta Gamma, Delta Beta Pi (local),
Alpha Omicron Pi Alpha Omicron Pi (, AOII, Alpha O) is an international sorority founded on January 2, 1897, at Barnard College on the campus of Columbia University in Manhattan, New York City. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage "AO ...
, and
Kappa Theta Epsilon Kappa Theta Epsilon Sorority () is the first Greek alphabet, Greek-lettered social and service sorority for Black LGBTQ professional and entrepreneurial women. Membership is exclusive to lesbian women, and primarily college-educated. The sorority ...
.Lurding, Carroll and Becque, Fran. (August 5, 2023)
Closed Institutions
.
Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities
'. Urbana: University of Illinois. Accessed December 21, 2023.


World War II

In 1938 Oliver Parks, (representing Parks Air College,) Curtis-Wright Technical Institute, and Boeing School of Aeronautics were requested by Gen Arnold to establish, at their own risk, a
Civilian Pilot Training Program The Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) was a flight training program (1938–1944) sponsored by the United States government with the stated purpose of increasing the number of civilian pilots, though having a clear impact on military prepare ...
including barracks and aircraft to provide basic training for thousands of pilots. As enrollment swelled, Parks further expanded his facilities to include operations at Cape Girardeau and Sikeston, Missouri, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Jackson, Mississippi. Parks College trained thousands of aviators and aircraft mechanics during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. By the end of the war, more than 37,000 cadets (more than 10% of the Air Corps) had received their primary flight instruction at a Parks institution. A variety of training aircraft were used including PT-13, PT-17, PT-19, and the locally built PT-15 trainers. In 1944 Parks started a training curriculum to train female pilots. The students flew in ERCO Ercoupes with two-control flight systems.


Merger with Saint Louis University

Following the rapid decline in wartime training, Parks concluded that future aviation leaders would need a broader, more academic education. Parks donated the college valued at $3 million to Saint Louis University in 1946, remembering the Jesuit help he received after his 1928 air crash.
Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( ; ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German–American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and '' Allgemeine SS'', the leading figure in the development of ...
donated a V-2 rocket engine from the
White Sands Missile Range White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. The range was originally established in 1941 as the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, where the Trinity t ...
to the college after a visit in the 1950s. By the late 1990s Parks campus expanded to eighteen buildings, including a Mach 4
windtunnel A wind tunnel is "an apparatus for producing a controlled stream of air for conducting aerodynamic experiments". The experiment is conducted in the test section of the wind tunnel and a complete tunnel configuration includes air ducting to and f ...
. The training fleet consisted of
Cessna 152 The Cessna 152 is an American two-seat, fixed- tricycle-gear, general aviation airplane, used primarily for flight training and personal use. It was based on the earlier Cessna 150 incorporating a number of minor design changes and a slightl ...
, Mooney 201 and
Cessna 310 The Cessna 310 is an American four-to-six-seat, low-wing, twin-engine monoplane produced by Cessna between 1954 and 1980. It was the second twin-engine aircraft that Cessna put into production; the first was the Cessna T-50. It was used by the ...
models. Women in Aviation International founder, Dr. Peggy Baty, joined Parks College serving from 1990 to 1995.


Recent history

In 1996, Saint Louis University closed the historic
Cahokia, Illinois Cahokia is a settlement and former village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States, founded as a colonial French mission in 1689. Located on the east side of the Mississippi River in the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area, as of the Unite ...
campus and later sold it to the village. Classes are now held in the new McDonnell-Douglas Hall building on the Frost Campus in mid-town St. Louis. Flight training remained at St. Louis Downtown Airport. The move to the Frost campus allowed the curriculum to be expanded and Masters programs to be added. The college also provides many science classes for the main campus. Now known as Parks College of Engineering, Aviation, and Technology, it is a modern, growing, and active part of the university. In 2008, the FAA granted the college a $2.25 million grant to form the Center for Aviation Safety Research. The center is focused on safety management systems, safety culture, maintenance aviation safety programs, next-generation safety assessment, incident investigation, multi-risk analysis, and next-generation maintenance and engineering. In November 2013, Parks engineering students launched ''COPPER'' from the
Wallops Flight Facility Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) is a rocket launch site on Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, United States, just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and approximately north-northeast of Norfolk, VA, Norfolk. The facility is operated ...
. The
microsatellite A microsatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain Sequence motif, DNA motifs (ranging in length from one to six or more base pairs) are repeated, typically 5–50 times. Microsatellites occur at thousands of locations within an organ ...
will be controlled from the St. Louis campus for a year. In 2022, the former Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology became the Oliver L. Parks Department of Aviation Science, part of the SLU School of Science and Engineering at Saint Louis University.


Academic departments

*
Aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...
&
Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...
*
Aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...
Science *
Biomedical Engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare applications (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic purposes). BME also integrates the logica ...
*
Electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...
&
Computer Engineering Computer engineering (CE, CoE, or CpE) is a branch of engineering specialized in developing computer hardware and software. It integrates several fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science. Computer engi ...
*
Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...
* Interdisciplinary Engineering *
Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...


Notable alumni

Image:Francis Gabreski color photo in pilot suit.jpg, World War II Ace Francis Gabreski Image:Thyng hr.jpg, General Harrison Thyng Image:Gerald P. Carr 2.jpg, Gerald P. Carr (Honorary) Image:Wernher von Braun crop.jpg, Wernher von Braun (Honorary)


Parks Air College

* Francis Gabreski
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Ace who received primary training at Parks * Harrison Thyng – World War II and
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
ace


Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology

*
Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( ; ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German–American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and '' Allgemeine SS'', the leading figure in the development of ...
(honorary) – aerospace engineer *
Gerald P. Carr Gerald Paul "Jerry" Carr (August 22, 1932August 26, 2020) was an American Mechanical engineering, mechanical and aeronautical engineer, United States Marine Corps, United States Marine Corps officer, naval aviator, and NASA astronaut. He was com ...
(1976, honorary) –
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
Skylab 4 Skylab 4 (also SL-4 and SLM-3) was the third crewed Skylab mission and placed the third and final human spaceflight, crew aboard the first American space station. The mission began on November 16, 1973, with the launch of Gerald P. Carr, Edwar ...
commander * Gene Kranz
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
flight director * Earl T. Ricks
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
Major General, director of the
Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...
, and mayor of
Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County, Arkansas, Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs ...
* Jeffrey Standerski – a senior vice president at
Rockwell Collins Rockwell Collins, Inc. was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Radi ...
, a defunct aerospace company *
Richard G. Thomas Richard G. Thomas (April 2, 1930 – June 19, 2006) was an American test pilot, who flew the Tacit Blue, and several spin tests on the F-5F program, including the first flights on both aircraft for the Northrop Corporation. Early life and educat ...
(Aeronautical Engineering) – Northrop test pilot at the Tacit Blue/
Area 51 Area 51 is the common name of a highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range in southern Nevada, north-northwest of Las Vegas. A remote detachment administered by Edwards Air Force B ...
, known for F-5 spin tests


References


External links


Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology (Official website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parks College Of Engineering, Aviation And Technology Saint Louis University Aviation schools in the United States Engineering universities and colleges in Missouri Universities and colleges established in 1927 Catholic engineering schools and colleges in the United States 1927 establishments in Missouri