Detroit Pistons donate team airplane to Minn. college
A Minnesota college is getting a big donation from the Detroit Pistons.
The NBA team is donating a DC-9 aircraft to the aviation program at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls.
The donation is a boost for the aviation mechanic students says the college's Dean of Aviation Jim Retka. The donated aircraft, nicknamed the "Roundball One," was used as the Pistons team plane from 1998 to 2010, and is expected to arrive in Thief River Falls Friday morning.
"Certainly it's going to give them real world experience very similar to what they would be exposed to in the working world. This is a usable aircraft, everything is functioning on it,"Retka said. "Being that this is an aircraft that's been used up until last year, it's got the latest and greatest of everything in terms of navigation on it."
The program's current aircraft has 30-year-old technology, Retka said.
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