A gift from Airbus

Posted by Curtis Chan on October 4, 2013 in Campus Life, Students | 0 comments

Airbus Americas officials present the College of Engineering with a flap from an A300 wide-body aircraft. (Photo credit: Curtis Chan)

Corporate donations are not unusual at Penn State. Companies will often send the University money, software or equipment. But a newly-arrived gift inside a very large orange crate is one of the more unusual donations Penn State has received in recent memory.

Delivered on Sept. 30, the crate contains a flap for an Airbus A300 wide-body airplane for the Department of Aerospace Engineering.

Richard Auhl, a research associate in aerospace engineering, said the flap would be used for teaching, providing students with hands-on structures and dynamics laboratory measurements.

The gift was the brainchild of Jason Reed, vice president of material, logistics and suppliers for Airbus Americas and a 2001 aerospace engineering graduate.

Reed said a left-hand side inboard flap like the one delivered to Penn State is valued at more than $926,000 new. But because the part was rendered unserviceable to prevent the flap from accidentally entering the spare parts market and used on an operating aircraft, the part’s value is essential for scrap.

An Airbus delegation including Mary Anne Greczyn, Airbus Americas manager of communication, and Reed, formally handed the flap over to the aerospace engineering department today (Oct. 4).